Living for the Moment: Book 2
by silvermoony77
Summary: Alex Ratcliff is back for her second year of Hogwarts, hoping for a normal time at school. How much more trouble could they get into anyway? But when is life ever normal when you are best friends with The Boy Who Lived?
1. Prologue

_Summary: Alex Ratcliff is back for her second year of Hogwarts, hoping for a normal time at school. How much more trouble could they get into anyway? But when is life ever normal when you are best friends with The Boy Who Lived?_

_The Chamber of Secrets has been opened and no one is safe anymore. Hogwarts threatens to close so Alexandria Ratcliff and her friends Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger race to try and solve the mysteries around them. Who is the Heir of Slytherin? Why did Dumbledore hire their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? And how long can Alex go without landing herself in detention? Along the way, Alex struggles to keep her powers hidden from her friends as well as avoid making Snape angry. Can these four Gryffindors save Hogwarts from closing, or will tragedy stop them?_

_Author's Note: I don't own any of Harry Potter except the stuff you don't recognize._

_Warning: Again, this is an AU fic but it's still K+._

Prologue

A small creature was running through the trees clutching letters to his chest. Panting, he stopped, putting the letters in his dirty outfit that resembled a pillow case. This creature was a house-elf, bound by his master to serve for life. The elf, however, did not like his master and was going to do all he could to save the only thing that his master despised: Harry Potter. He did this at a price, for whenever he stole letters from Harry Potter, he was breaking his vow to his master and he must punish himself. The small elf picked up a large stick and hit himself over and over again with the stick. He kept pounding his head until he fell over, unconscious.

Meanwhile, just a few yards away, Alexandria Ratcliff was fast asleep, not knowing that she and the elf would cross paths in the very near future…

_Author's Note: Yeah, this is ridiculously short so I'm posting Chapter 1 as well. Enjoy! _


	2. Chapter 1 An Unexpected Surprise

_Author's Note: The only things I own are the characters and bits of plot that you don't recognize._

Chapter 1 An Unexpected Surprise

Alexandria Ratcliff was sitting on her bed reading. Her grey eyes were moving fast as she read through her book. By her was a letter from her best friend Hermione Granger that read:

_Dear Alex,_

_ I just got your letter. My parents say its fine for me to spend some time at your house and I'll be there tomorrow at four. Can't wait and see you tomorrow._

_ Your friend,_

_ Hermione Granger_

Alex had asked her friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter to come over to her house for a few days. Ron was sick and Harry had not replied. In fact, he had not written all summer. Alex was a little upset about this and hoped everything was all right.

Alex looked at her bedside clock, pushing a strand of her thick black hair out of her tan face. It was three forty five; she still had time to get her room clean. Her Uncle Monty had put an extra bed in her room for Hermione so she could spend a couple nights. Even though they had plenty of room that Hermione could've had her own room, the girls decided it would be more fun to share a room. Alex rushed around picking up dirty clothes, school books, and her stuffed dragon Norwena that Hagrid, the school gamekeeper, had given to her when she was a baby. She fingered the worn tail on the dragon and chuckled softly as she remembered her experience with her first real dragon. Alex and Ron had ended up in the Hospital Wing after being bitten by the little bugger.

However, Alex barely remembered the motorcycle ride which Hagrid had taken her on almost twelve years ago, or anything about that night for that matter. All she knew was an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort had come to the house where her parents were staying and killed hers and Harry's parents. She and Harry, though, had managed to escape with only a scar on them, Harry's on his forehead and Alex's on her arm.

_DING-DONG!_ Alex ran downstairs and opened the door. There stood Hermione and her parents. Alex showed them in and after the Granger's talked with Uncle Monty, they said good-bye to Hermione.

"We'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron in three days, all right Hermione?" said Mrs. Granger.

"Yes Mum."

After the Grangers had left, Alex lead Hermione to her room.

"So, what do you want to do?" asked Hermione.

"Let's go outside, I want to teach you how to skateboard," said Alex smiling mischievously.

It was obvious that Hermione was not a sports person. It took a good hour for her to learn how to stay up on the board. Finally, she and Alex were skating around the flat part of Alex's driveway. Suddenly, Hermione fell and her board went flying over the fence that separated Alex's house from the Malfoy Mansion.

"Are you okay?" asked Alex, skating over.

"Yeah, but I lost your board. It went over the fence."

"Wait here, I'll get it."

She climbed over the fence and jumped down. She walked through the thick forest of trees, looking for the lost board. She pushed a branch out of her way and let out a cry of surprise. There, lying in the grass, was a little creature with pointed ears. It had bruises and cuts all over its body and was wearing a very dirty outfit. Alex walked over cautiously and bent over it.

"Hello? Are you all right?" she asked gently.

The creature didn't move. Alex took its pulse. It was alive but must have been knocked out. Alex got up and ran back the way she came. She climbed back over the fence and ran into the house, Hermione calling after her. She went to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the first-aid kit. She then rushed by a very confused Hermione and back to the place where the little creature was. She started cleaning the wounds and putting bandages over the larger cuts. She saw there were scars all over its body. Finally, she took out a flask and forced the potion down its throat. It coughed and sat up, looking around.

"What? Where…Where is Dobby?" it said in a high-pitched voice.

"Um…well you're in a forest in the countryside near London. I don't know where your friend Dobby is," said Alex. "How are you feeling? You had some nasty wounds, but I managed to patch you up." It looked up at her then started to sob. "Oh no, don't cry, it's okay, you're going to be fine," said Alex, looking surprised at the elf-like creature's outburst of tears.

"Never in Dobby's life," said the elf through its bawling, "Has Dobby seen such kindness." Alex assumed the elf was Dobby and he talked in third person.

"Oh, um, thanks, I guess," said Alex, feeling uncomfortable, "I would have done it for anyone."

Dobby started to wail, "Kind girl, treating Dobby like everyone else."

"I take it you haven't met many nice people?" said Alex as Dobby blew his nose into his outfit.

"Yes, you are right," he said smiling.

Then Dobby covered his mouth. He grabbed the nearest thing, which was the skateboard Alex had been looking for, and began to hit himself over the head.

"Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby!" he cried as he hit himself.

"What are you doing?" said Alex, looking frantic, "Stop, you're going to hurt yourself even more. STOP!" she cried.

Dobby stopped, swaying slightly. Alex grabbed the skateboard and put it out of Dobby's reach, looking worried.

"What were you doing? You're going to kill yourself if you keep doing that!" she said.

"Dobby had to do that, Miss. Dobby almost spoke ill of his master."

"Your master?" said Alex, looking perplexed, "Are you a slave or something?"

"No Miss, Dobby is a house elf."

"A what?" said Alex.

"A house elf, bound to serve one family until Dobby dies. Dobby must get back," he said suddenly, getting up, but fell over.

"Whoa there, Dobby," said Alex, "You're not going anywhere. You've got some nasty bruises and lost a lot of blood. You need to rest."

"Dobby can't rest, Dobby must get back to his master. If they found out where Dobby has been…" he drifted off and shuddered violently.

"Where have you been anyway? You look terrible with all those scars," said Alex looking at a particularly peculiar scar on Dobby's hand.

"Dobby gets these scars from when he punishes himself," said the elf simply.

Alex gaped. "You to this to yourself?" she asked outraged.

"Not all, Miss," said Dobby, seeing her horrified face. "Some is from when his master punishes Dobby, when Dobby is especially bad."

"Why don't you run away Dobby? They're hurting you!"

"Ah, Miss," said Dobby tears brimming, "Dobby cannot run away, he must be set free. The only way a house elf can be freed is to be given clothes by his master."

"Oh." She was silent but then said, "How far is your master's home? You don't have to say where," she added seeing Dobby reach for a large stick, "Just about where."

"Well," he seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "This is they're forest."

"You…You work for the Malfoy's?" said Alex surprised. Dobby nodded. Alex stood up and helped the little elf too. "I'll help you to the door. Try to rest as much as you can, all right?"

They slowly made there way to the front door. As they walked, Dobby spoke.

"If Miss would be so kind to tell Dobby, what is Miss' name?"

"I'm Alex Radcliff, I live with my uncle in the house next door," she said as the elf leaned on her.

"How did you know of my masters?" he asked, wincing slightly as they walked.

"I go to school with your master's son," she said bitterly, remembering how terrible he was.

"You are not in the same house as him, are you?" Dobby asked surprised.

"No way!" cried Alex, "I'm in Gryffindor."

"That means…do you know Harry Potter?" gasped the little elf.

"Yeah, he's one of my friends, though I haven't heard from him in a while," she added in an undertone.

"You must tell him, he will not listen to Dobby, you must warn him not to go to Hogwarts this year," said Dobby frantically. "Terrible things are being planned and Harry Potter must stay away!"

"What terrible things Dobby?" said Alex, stopping.

"Dobby cannot say Miss, though Dobby wants to. Things are about to happen that Harry Potter must not be near," he said.

It took Alex a few minutes to calm the little elf down so he could walk. As they continued through the dense forest, Alex thought about what Dobby had said. Terrible things at Hogwarts, what were they and why mustn't Harry be around them? What could possibly happen with Dumbledore around?

_Well,_ thought Alex grimly, reflecting on her last year at Hogwarts, _Four first years were able to find out about the Sorcerer's Stone, go through all the obstacles, and get the Stone. Don't forget the fact that Voldemort was on the back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's head!_

The forest started thinning out and Alex was able to see the Malfoy Mansion. It looked a lot like Alex's house, a large stone building with many windows and two huge wooden doors. There was one big difference, this house was falling apart. The windows were cracked, the paint was peeling off the shutters, and the tiles from the roof were missing. If Alex didn't know any better, she would have thought no one lived there. However, as soon as she took another step forward and out of the forest, the house changed before her eyes. The chipped paint became bright, the tiles looked brand-new, and the windows were clean and whole.

"It was a spell," she whispered in awe at the transformation, "To keep the Muggles from wondering who lived in there. That's bloody brilliant!"

"This is where Dobby and Miss go their separate ways," said Dobby, looking at the house and shuddering, "Dobby does not want Master to see Miss and make her stay. It was an honor to meet you and thank you for caring to the wounds of a miserable house elf."

"Dobby, don't say that about yourself!" admonished Alex and then smiled as she said, "It was wonderful to meet you and I hope to see more of you soon since we're neighbors."

Instead of cheering up the elf, which was what Alex was trying to do, Dobby started to cry.

"I am sorry Miss," choked Dobby, "But Dobby is overwhelmed by your kindness. How can Dobby ever repay you?"

"Er…it's okay Dobby, I was just trying to help," said Alex, blushing slightly.

Dobby bowed low to the ground and snapped his fingers. With a loud _CRACK_, he was gone.

Alex stared at the place where the funny little creature had disappeared and went back through the forest. She found her skateboard and climbed over the fence. She saw Hermione waiting on the back steps, looking worried.

"Alex!" she cried and ran over to her, "I was getting worried. Where were you? What happened?"

Alex told Hermione everything that happened. Hermione listened and after the story, frowned.

"He just disappeared, he couldn't have done that before?" she asked.

"He was too weak I guess, he was pretty battered up," said Alex, shrugging her shoulders.

"And what he said about Harry, that's pretty strange too," said Hermione.

"Have you heard from him lately?" asked Alex.

"No and neither has Ron. I'm starting to worry, Ron mentioned something about if he didn't write back soon, he was going to go and get him," said Hermione.

"I have an idea!" she said after a while, "He lives with his aunt and uncle right? They're Muggles, so they have a telephone. Let's look them up and call him!"

"I don't know Alex," said Hermione looking skeptical, "They don't seem like the type to let Harry talk to his wizard friends on their telephone."

"It can't hurt to try," said Alex, proud of her idea and not letting anything spoil it.

…

"Found it!" cried Uncle Monty.

The girls gathered around him, looking at where his finger was. They were looking in the phone book for the telephone number of Harry's aunt and uncle.

"Thanks Uncle Monty," said Alex and she took the book to her room, followed by Hermione. She dialed the number and waited patiently.

"Hello?" came a man's voice from the other end.

"Is this the Dursley residence?" said Alex, mimicking Professor McGonagall's stern voice.

"Who is this? We're not interested in anything you are selling," said the man rudely.

"This is Professor Minerva McGonagall, I wish to speak to Harry Potter. Is he available?" Alex asked, Hermione giving a look of horror.

The man sputtered and Alex waited for his response. To speed things up she added, "It is about disciplinary matters, I must talk to him about when he is to make up all of his detentions."

It worked, the man stopped sputtering. "I'll get him immediately," he said and Alex couldn't see him, but she could tell he was grinning by his tone. Alex looked at Hermione's still horrified face and gave her a thumbs-up.

"I can't believe you!" she whispered angrily, "If anyone finds out about this…"

"They won't," she said simply and Hermione let out an annoyed sigh.

Alex heard someone shout, "Boy, get down here!" and footsteps. There were a few words spoken and the sound of someone picking up the phone.

"H-Hello Professor," said Harry. Alex almost laughed out loud.

"Mr. Potter," she said in her impersonation of the Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration teacher, "Can you go somewhere where we cannot be disturbed? We have much to discuss."

"Yes Professor, hold on one minute please," he said. He sounded so frightened! There was silence and Harry's voice called distantly to hang up the phone. "All right Professor," he said as though he was going to the gallows.

"Are we not going to be overheard?" Alex asked.

"No, my aunt and uncle are downstairs and my cousin is over at a friend's house," he said.

"Hold on Harry, let me put you on speaker," said Alex, resuming her own voice. She pressed a button and laid the phone on her bed.

"Hi Harry!" the two girls said together.

There was silence on the other end.

"Harry, are you there?" asked Hermione confused.

"Yes, I'm here. Is that Alex and Hermione?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

"You bet!" said Alex, "I told you it would work Hermione. We didn't mean to get you all scared Harry," she added, "I knew your aunt and uncle wouldn't want you talking to your friends because they seem pretty bad. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just a little freaked out," he said, laughing.

"Where have you been Harry?" said Hermione, using her motherly voice, "We've been worried sick about you! We've written you tons of letters and haven't heard from you at all!"

"I haven't gotten any letters all summer," said Harry, he sounded upset, "I've written letters to you, but you haven't written back. I thought…" He paused. "You forgot about me."

"Forgot about you?" cried Alex, "Harry, how in Merlin's name could we forget about you, after all we did last year? You don't make that easy."

Harry laughed and Alex could tell he was feeling better.

"Where's Ron? How's he doing?" he asked.

"He's sick, I invited you three to come over for a couple days, but only Hermione could go," said Alex.

"My aunt and uncle wouldn't have let me go anyway," said Harry.

"Are they really that bad?" asked Hermione.

"Let me put it to you this way," said Harry grimly, "My day today consisted of making them breakfast, Dudley eats about ten pounds of bacon each morning, then cleaning the toilets, and afterwards I got rid of all the weeds in the garden. I made them lunch, Dudley eats about three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a day, and after I get off with you, I have to wash the car."

"That's horrible!" said Hermione, "That's child abuse!"

"Yeah," said Alex, "Your cousin must be huge!"

Harry and Hermione laughed.

"He's weighs about the size of a baby killer whale, no kidding," he said.

"How much longer are you going to be boy?" came a loud voice from Harry's end.

"Tell him you discussing whether or not to go into next year's summer," whispered Alex.

Harry told the man what Alex had said and he laughed maliciously. "They can keep you forever if they have to," he said and there was the sound of a door closing.

"Well…that was lovely," said Alex.

They spent the rest of the time talking about Hogwarts next year and Alex told Harry about the elf.

"He sounds mental," Harry said, sounding appalled, "You heard what my uncle said, I can't live here forever now that I know about the Wizarding World. Hogwarts is my home."

Finally, Uncle Monty called the girls down for dinner. Alex and Hermione didn't want to let Harry get off the phone.

"Go ahead you two," he said, "I'll be fine now that I know you tried to talk to me. Say hi to Ron for me, okay?"

"We will Harry, we promise," said Hermione.

"Maybe we'll try to call you again," said Alex, hopefully.

"Sure, but if not, see you on the train," he said.

They said good-bye and hung up. After sitting on Alex's bed staring at the phone for a few minutes, they went down to eat.

…

After talking to Harry, Alex sent a letter to Ron explaining Harry never got their letters and they never got his. It was mysterious, but Alex was having too much fun to dwell heavily on the matter.

Everyday, Alex had dance lessons so Hermione would come along to watch. Alex was happy that her friends at dance got along well with Hermione. They would even try to show Hermione some of the dance routine. Alex, Hermione, and Erin, Alex's best friend from dance, were walking home after one lesson and were doing just that.

"One, two, three, and four…" counted Erin.

She was showing Hermione the new dance moves they had learned. Hermione was a better dancer than an athlete. She was able to grasp what Erin was teaching her fairly quickly for never taking a dance lesson before.

"When do you go back to school?" Erin asked.

"Well, we need to be there on September 1st, but we should get our school supplies soon," said Alex, "Have you gotten a list yet Hermione?"

"No, not yet, but they usually come around now," said Hermione.

After saying good-bye to Erin, they went to Alex's house. When they arrived, there was a letter on Alex's bed along with a very tired owl.

"Oh you poor thing!" cried Hermione as she picked up the sleeping owl and put it in Monty's empty cage. Monty was on Alex's bed, watching the scene with humor.

Alex picked up the letter and recognized Ron's handwriting. She read the letter aloud.

_Dear Alex and Hermione (if she's still there),_

_ I just got your letter Alex, and I'm going to go and get Harry out of that terrible house. I know that Hermione will not approve (sorry Hermione), but he obviously is not having a good summer and no kid deserves that. Well, except for Malfoy but there are always exceptions to rules. Hopefully the next time I write to you Harry will be here as well. If I don't see you in Diagon Alley, see you on the train._

_ Your friend,_

_ Ron Weasley_

"Well," said Alex after a long pause, "I guess he's feeling better."

"I can't believe him!" cried Hermione, "How does he expect to get to Harry's house and take him home with him?"

Alex didn't answer but put the letter aside. She looked over at the old owl, which she recognized as Errol, the Weasley's family owl. She wrote a response as did Hermione, which was longer and angrier that Alex's, and sent the letter with Monty while Errol stayed in the cage.

"That bird needs to rest before making any more deliveries," said Alex.

_Author's Note: What an interesting summer Alex is having! Quick note for you all: if you haven't figured it out yet, all this happened before Dobby went to Harry's house. There will be a mention of that later on, but I just wanted to make sure that was clear._

_So what did you think of my first two chapters? Good, bad, so-so? _

_I know I said I would update before the New Year but life got in the way. Sorry everyone! If you don't want to answer my previous questions, you could tell me what your New Year's Resolution is. Mine is to survive senior year and to not fall ill with senior-itus, as well as continue to regularly update my story of course! ;) Please leave me a review for the New Year and Happy 2011 everyone!_


	3. Chapter 2 Returning to theWizardingWorld

_Author's Note: I am not J.K Rowling so how can I own Harry Potter? This chapter goes out to _Amy aka Luke_, who was my first reviewer. Warning, during the train ride there is a little bit of harsh language. Just want you to be prepared._

Chapter 2 Returning to the Wizarding World

"Hermione, wake up!" shouted Alex, "We're getting our school supplies today!"

The Hogwarts letters had come the night before and Alex and Hermione wanted to get their school things as soon as possible. They had sent Errol back with a letter saying they were going to Diagon Alley and asked the boys if they wanted to meet up at the Leaky Cauldron.

Uncle Monty and Hermione were sitting at the kitchen table while Alex made breakfast. Hermione had gotten used to the fact that Uncle Monty was a failure in the kitchen and it was Alex who made the meals. Suddenly, an owl soared through the kitchen window and a letter fell on the table.

"Can one of you guys read it aloud?" said Alex showing her egg covered hands.

Hermione picked up the letter and read it aloud.

_Dear Alex and Hermione,_

_We're going to get our school things too! We'll meet you at Flourish and Blots. See you there!_

_Harry and Ron_

"Well then ladies," said Uncle Monty, "If you want to get all your things and still have time to chat, we need to get moving."

The girls ate their breakfast, got ready, and were out the door in record time. It took them a half and hour to get to London. They did not have any trouble finding the Leaky Cauldron. There they met Mr. and Mrs. Granger and Uncle Monty used his wand to open the passage to Diagon Alley.

With their bags filled with Muggle money, they went to Gringotts to exchange it for Wizard money. After shopping for new robes (Alex's were getting too short), some quills (all of theirs had broke), and stocking up on their potions ingredients, they went to grab ice cream. They were just leaving the store when Hermione let out a cry.

"Harry!" she called.

Harry turned around and smiled. He was an absolute mess. His hair was more unkempt that usual, his face was sooty, and his glasses were broken. Standing next to him was Hagrid, the Hogwarts game keeper. The girls ran over and hugged their friends.

"Harry, you look like you haven't showered in days!" said Alex, laughing.

"And what did you do to your glasses?" asked Hermione, fixing them with a wave of her wand and incantation.

"Long story short: I got lost," said Harry, beaming at his two friends.

"Where, down a chimney?" asked Alex as she brushed soot off his cloak, "You're filthy!"

They laughed as they went into Flourish and Blots. Alex and Hermione quickly finished their ice cream as they approached, but found a long line ahead of them.

"Wow," said Alex, "I didn't realize so many people needed books today." Hermione pointed to a sign outside the window and Alex read it.

_Gilderoy Lockhart is signing his copy of _Magical Me_ today!_

"Who's he and why's he so popular?" said Alex, looking at the line which mostly consisted of women.

"He wrote all of our Defense Against the Dark Arts books," said Harry, looking at his list.

"Wonder if our new teacher is here today," said Alex thoughtfully.

Hagrid told them the Weasley's were inside as well as Uncle Monty and the Grangers. The three of them started to make there way through the crowd, Alex having to step on a few toes to get through. Finally, they saw the infamous Weasley red hair.

"Ron!" gasped Alex as she got elbowed hard in the ribs by an overly eager witch.

Ron turned around and smiled. He said something to his mother, who turned around also, and ran over to hug Harry.

"Oh Harry dear, thank goodness you're all right! We were so worried, you could have ended up anywhere!" She turned to the girls and gave them hugs too. "My goodness, it is so wonderful to see you two! Alex, you have really shot up over the summer! And look at Hermione, my dear you're hair looks wonderful!" After thanking Mrs. Weasley, they both went to say hello to the other Weasleys.

"Hello Fred, hello George!" said Alex to the twins.

"Hiya Alex!" they said together.

"How were your summers?" asked Hermione.

"Oh great-" Fred started.

"-if you count helping Harry escape from the Muggles and getting in trouble for it," finished George.

"That was really-" started Hermione, looking ready to give a lecture, but Alex cut her off.

"How did you do it?" said Alex.

Fred opened his mouth to say but at that moment, the whole room exploded into applause and Alex looked over. A handsome man with blonde hair and blue eyes was standing in the front of the room. He was holding a book in his hands with the same face on the cover and the title _Magical Me_. Alex realized it was Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen," he said, smiling a large toothy grin. One of the ladies beside Alex almost fainted while she just rolled her eyes. "I would like to thank all of you for coming out today for my little book signing. I would also like to thank Flourish and Blots for having me here today," he winked at the lady beside Alex and this time she _did_ faint.

As he looked around the room, his eyes came to where Harry was standing. "It can't be…Harry Potter!" he practically shouted. Alex looked at Harry, who was blushing severely.

One of the fair few men in the crowd had a large camera in his hands and he grabbed a fully embarrassed Harry roughly by the arm, dragging him next to Lockhart. Harry looked out of place with his dirty appearance next to Lockhart's clean blonde hair and immaculate light blue robes.

"When Harry Potter came into Flourish and Blots to buy my autobiography _Magical Me_," said Lockhart and Alex looked at him in disbelief. Harry didn't even know who Lockhart was. "He didn't realize that he would leave with my entire set of published works…for free!"

There was a lot of sighing and clapping as the older man shoved books into Harry's arms and smiled for the camera, Harry redder than ever. He left as soon as he could and came back to the Weasley's.

"Here," he muttered to Ginny, putting the books into her cauldron, "You can have these, I'll buy my own set."

After giving their books to their parents to buy, the Weasley's, Hermione, Alex, and Harry went to the back of the store where it was much less crowded.

"Are you all right Harry?" asked Alex concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine," said Harry, although he still had color in his cheeks.

"Of course he's fine," drawled a voice that was very familiar.

They turned around, Fred, George, and Alex had their wands out. Draco Malfoy stood before them, smirking.

"I'll bet you really enjoyed that Potter," he sneered, "All that attention. Can't even go into a book shop without making the _Prophet_, can you?"

"Leave him alone," said Ginny quietly. She had taken a fancy to Harry since they first met.

"Oh look Potter," he said "You've got yourself a little girlfriend."

Ginny's face went redder than her hair. Alex opened her mouth to say something nasty when a man came behind Malfoy and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Play nicely Draco," he said in a bored voice. His eyes went over everyone, but they stopped at Harry and he looked up at the scar on Harry's forehead.

"You must be Harry Potter," he said looking intently at Harry's forehead, "And that must be the mark of the Dark Lord."

"Lord Voldemort killed my parents, and countless others too. He was a murderer," said Harry coldly.

"You must be either brave or foolish to say his name," said Mr. Malfoy.

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," said Hermione.

Mr. Malfoy turned to Hermione and, after a side look at his son, smirked. "You must be Miss Granger. Draco has told me all about you…and your parents." He looked over where Mr. Weasley was talking animatedly to the Grangers. Uncle Monty was right next to them. "Muggles, aren't they?" he added.

There was something sinister about his voice that made Alex angry. "So what if they're Muggles?" asked Alex furiously.

He looked her over before speaking again. "I don't believe I know you," he said coolly.

"That just shows what a bad neighbor you are then," she said, "I live next door to you."

"Ah yes," he said after a pause, "You're Elian's addition. We don't come out much, you know. We, ah, enjoy our privacy."

He stared at her for a while, as if looking for something, and turned to the rest of the group.

"Let me see, red hair, tattered robes, second hand books," At this he picked up the books that were in Ginny's cauldron and looked them over, "You must be the Weasleys."

Alex felt hot anger boiling inside of her. She watched as Mr. Malfoy put the books back into Ginny's cauldron and then Mr. Weasley came behind them, smiling.

"Come on kids, let's go outside," he said but when he saw Mr. Malfoy, his cheeriness disappeared.

"Weasley," said Mr. Malfoy.

"Malfoy," the other man returned coldly.

"I was just looking at your daughter's books," said Mr. Malfoy calmly. "With all those raids, I hoped they were paying you double, but I see I was wrong."

Mr. Weasley went red, not from embarrassment, but from anger. Just then, Uncle Monty came over. He saw the tension between the two men.

"Come on Arthur, let's get out of here," he muttered. "Don't start any trouble, not in front of the children."

As Mr. Weasley turned to leave, Mr. Malfoy called to him. "Maybe you should spend less time with Muggles and more time raising money to take care of your enormous family."

Mr. Weasley cracked. He spun around and tackled Mr. Malfoy in a way that would have made any American football player proud. Fred and George cheered their dad on, Ginny and Hermione were looking very upset at the scene, and Harry and Ron were in a state of shock. Alex stared, torn between cheering the fighters on and trying to break them up. Suddenly, two large hands appeared and separated the two fighting men. Alex looked up and saw Hagrid.

"All righ' break it up you two!" he shouted.

Both men were panting. Mr. Weasley had a bleeding lip and a bruise on his chin. Mr. Malfoy's hair was disheveled and his cheek was covered in blood. He composed himself and called his son over.

"Come Draco, let's go home," he said. Draco gave the group one last look and left. Hagrid turned to Mr. Weasley.

"Yeh shouldn't 'ave done that Arthur. He's pretty high up there in the Ministry, yeh could've lost yer job," he said concerned.

Mr. Weasley didn't say anything but accepted the handkerchief from Uncle Monty to wipe the blood from his lip.

After many good-byes and promises to keep in touch, Alex and Uncle Monty left. As they drove home, Alex decided to ask her uncle a question.

"Uncle Monty, why is it so bad to have Muggle parents?"

"Why it's not bad at all, look at Hermione!" he said, surprised by the question.

"I know, but Mr. Malfoy seemed to feel it was terrible to have Muggle parents," she said.

"Mr. Malfoy is a fool. Do you remember when you first met young Draco how he called you a filthy Mudblood?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. It wasn't too hard to forget.

"Well, there's an old saying 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' That applies to the Malfoys. All of them believe that if your parents, and your grandparents, and so on aren't all magical, you're dirty. They feel superior to those who have Muggles in their families. It's all hogwash because if we kept marrying our own kind, we'd have all died out years ago."

"That's ridiculous!" cried Alex, appalled by what she was hearing, "Hermione is the smartest in our whole class!"

"Same with your mother and aunt, they were Muggle-born and they were both brilliant. Like I said Alex, it's all hogwash."

When they got home, Alex decided to look through her new school books. She quickly discovered Lockhart's books were all about him and his amazing triumphs. Alex found him very arrogant and picked up her Potions book instead. She could not wait to go back to Hogwarts.

…...

Alex woke with a start and looked wildly around for her watch. She sighed with relief when realized she didn't wake up late. It was six in the morning. Knowing she couldn't go back to sleep, she got up and packed her belongings into her trunk. After stuffing robes, books, parchment, and quills into her trunk, she put all her photo albums into her carry-on bag. The albums were her mother's and had pictures of people Alex only heard about. Alana, Alex's mother, went to Hogwarts with her twin sister Elizabeth. They were friends with James and Lily Potter, Harry's parents. Alex knew her mother had other friends, but no one could tell her their names.

She took out her favorite picture and looked at it. Her mother and aunt were in the center, their identical faces smiling and waving. Next to her mother was a handsome man with long black hair and piercing grey eyes. To the left of the man were Lily and James Potter. Alex looked at Lily's fiery red hair and bright green eyes; they were definitely Harry's eyes. James looked almost identical to Harry, but was more muscular and had hazel eyes. On Elizabeth's right was a man with shaggy sandy hair. He looked battered up, but was holding Elizabeth's hand and was smiling widely. Next to him was a pretty woman with auburn hair and next to her was a man with dark brown hair. Finally, there was a little porky man with watery eyes. Sometimes, he would run in front of the twins and lay on his side, grinning. Other times, he would just stand there, waving.

Alex pocketed the picture and went into the bathroom to get ready. Afterwards, she carried her trunk down the stairs and made breakfast. Her uncle had just come down when Alex had finished.

"Good morning Alex!" he said joyfully, "Are you all packed for school?"

"Yes, I got up early so I did it then. My trunk's by the door," she said. Her uncle was definitely a morning person.

"Good, very good," he said as he piled his plate with eggs. This action reminded her of Ron and she giggled to herself quietly.

After breakfast, Uncle Monty put Alex's trunk in the back. Meanwhile, Alex was trying to coax her owl into his cage.

_"Come on Monty, it's just until we get on the train,"_ she pleaded quietly with the stubborn jet-black owl.

_"I hate it in there!"_ he cried angrily, _"It's so tight and I can't even flap my wings around."_

_"It's only for a little while,"_ she said in a whisper. Alex was able to talk to all kinds of creatures. She had only found out about this when she went to the zoo last summer. No one knew about this gift though, none of her friends or even her guardian. She wanted it that way, no annoying questions or stupid requests to ask why the animals were acting certain ways.

It took five minutes to get Monty into his cage and then they left. Since they left early, there was not much traffic into London. At the station, Uncle Monty and Alex walked quickly through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. Alex loved the Hogwarts Express and couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. There were quite a few people on the platform as the two of them maneuvered their way to the train compartment doors. After saying good-bye to her uncle, Alex went to find a compartment. She saw Hermione and quickly joined her. Alex was showing Hermione some pictures when they heard the compartment door open. It was Ginny Weasley.

"Hey Ginny, come on in," said Alex. "Where are your brother and Harry?"

"They're on their way," she said quietly. Ginny was a shy girl with the classic Weasley red hair and light brown eyes.

The girls decided to play a game of Exploding Snap while they waited for Harry and Ron. However, as the train pulled out of the station, they started to worry.

"They should've been here by now," said Ginny.

"Maybe they're in another compartment," said Hermione. "Let's go look for them."

They got up and proceeded to look in every compartment, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"Let's head back," said Alex. "Maybe they're in our compartment now."

But when they got back, the compartment was empty. Alex was wondering if they somehow missed the train. Hermione sat next to a sobbing Ginny, trying to comfort her.

"Don't worry Ginny, even if they did miss the train, your parents will find a way to get them to school," she said.

"That is, if those two don't find a way first," said Alex.

Ginny laughed and started to calm down. Just then, the door opened. Alex looked up, hoping it was Harry and Ron, but saw it was Malfoy with his lackeys Crabbe and Goyle.

"What?" she snapped, not in a mood to argue with anyone.

"We just wanted to drop by to see how the little first year is enjoying her trip," said Malfoy smirking at Ginny.

"Don't give me that shit," she said, making Hermione gasp and Malfoy raise his eyebrows, "You just came here to annoy us. Get out of here before I make you."

She pulled out her wand and pointed it at him. He looked at her and then around the compartment.

"Where's Potty and Weasel?" he said.

"Not here," growled Alex.

"Oh, what a shame, they missed the train," he said. Crabbe and Goyle laughed stupidly at Malfoy's little rhyme. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Do they always act this stupid, or is it just when they're around you?" she said.

Ginny let out a laugh and Malfoy looked at her and then back at Alex. "You should watch what you say around me Ratcliff. My father is very high up in the Ministry," Malfoy said haughtily.

"Oh, I'm so scared," Alex retorted sarcastically.

"You should be, if you like the job your stupid uncle has."

"_Expelliarmus!_" cried Alex.

Malfoy's wand flew out of his pocket and he was pushed back several steps. Alex caught Malfoy's wand with ease and pointed her own at Crabbe and Goyle, who both went scurrying away like mice. She threw Malfoy's wand at him.

"Don't you ever talk about my uncle that way," she snarled. "He's three times the man you and your father will ever be." She slammed the compartment door and sat down.

Hermione and Ginny were silent. They knew better than to bother Alex when she was this angry. After she had time to cool down, Hermione spoke.

"You shouldn't have said that Alex," she said quietly.

"Why not? That little git has been nothing but annoying since I first met him," she said heatedly.

"That's all true, but he is right," said Hermione, "His father _is_ high up in the Ministry. One bad word about your uncle from Malfoy's dad and he could lose his job."

"Uncle Monty wouldn't blame me one bit for what I just did," said Alex, "He always says people shouldn't let others walk all over them."

"But he wouldn't want you picking fights with Malfoy," countered Hermione.

Alex sighed knowing, as always, Hermione was right. She would have to learn to control her hot temper. The rest of the train ride was uneventful. As it got darker outside, the girls changed into their robes. Ginny was shaking as she fastened her cloak.

"Relax Ginny, you'll be fine," said Alex soothingly.

The train came to a complete stop and Alex grabbed her bag and Monty. After seeing that Ginny was safely over by Hagrid, Hermione and Alex went with the rest of the crowd. As they drew near, Alex gasped. There were large carriages and pulling them were large black horses. Or were they? Alex looked again and saw they were bony and had wings.

"Wow," she breathed and went over to one, _"Hello."_

_"Hello child. You can see me?"_ said the bony animal.

_"Of course, can't everyone else?"_ Alex asked, looking around.

_"Only those who have seen death can see us. We are Thestrals,"_ replied the creature.

"Alex, hurry up!" called Hermione.

Alex said good-bye to the thestral and hoped into the carriage. She thought about what the thestral told her. _"Only those who have seen death can see us."_ When had she seen death? Then it hit her and her stomach dropped. She saw her grandparents' dead bodies before anyone else did.

"Alex, you all right?" asked Hermione, "You look pale."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just starving," said Alex.

Alex looked out the window of the carriage and tapped her friend on the shoulder. She saw the proud and noble castle walls and towers up ahead. They were finally back.

_Author's Note: So I know Alex didn't see anyone being murdered, but it says that anyone who's seen death can see thestrals and she was the first to find her grandparent's bodies. This factor is partially why the story is AU so hopefully this chapter was still enjoyable for you, despite this difference._

_**THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR UPDATES SO PLEASE READ!**__ I have midterms next week and, in order to get into college, I need to make them my first priority. That means my updates this weekend through next week won't be very regular or I may not even be updating at all during that time. It all depends on how much studying I get done. I want to let my readers know since you all read this and expect updates in a reasonable amount of time. Please know that once they are over, I will be back on a regular updating schedule. If you all could start praying for me, keep me in your thoughts, and/or send me telepathic happy thoughts, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks everyone and don't forget to review if you get a chance. :)_


	4. Chapter 3 The New DADA Teacher

_Author's Note: Yes, I know! I don't own Harry Potter! There, now no one can sue me…for this anyway… ;)_

Chapter 3 The New Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher

Alex and Hermione walked through the familiar oak front doors and into the Great Hall. They looked up at the dark ceiling that reflected the night sky. Alex searched around and saw Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown waving at her. She ran over to them and hugged them.

"Hey guys, how were your summers?" she asked them.

"Great," said Parvati, "I went to visit my family in India and I met the cutest boy ever!"

"My family decided to go RVing in the English countryside," said Lavender forlornly, "It was a drag, just a bunch of hills and sheep. Needless to say I didn't meet any hot guys along the way. How about you two?"

Hermione and Alex told them about their summers. Alex had just finished when the Headmaster got up and silence filled the room. Professor McGonagall came in with the line of first years. Alex barely paid attention to the reading of the names until the last one.

"Weasley, Ginevra."

Ginny looked too scared to be upset by the snickering of her name. She walked up the stool and put on the ancient hat. It didn't take long for the hat to reach its decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted.

All the Weasleys and the rest of Gryffindor house cheered loudly. It was a long time before the Headmaster could continue because Fred and George were still applauding and trying to keep up the shouting. Finally, after a stern look from McGonagall, they stopped and sat down in their seats with identical grins on their faces. Professor Dumbledore smiled at them before he began.

"I have only a few start-of-term notices before we enjoy a wonderful meal. First, in case many of you were wondering, we do in fact have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year," said Professor Dumbledore. He said this because there were no new teachers at the High Table.

"Not Snape, anything but Snape," whispered Fred.

"I'll be taught by a flobberworm, just not him," said George.

"What's the difference?" said Alex, which resulted in laughter from the twins and another stern look, but this time from Hermione.

"Unfortunately," continued the Headmaster, "He had urgent business to attend to tonight, but he will be back for tomorrow's lessons. He also wished me not to tell you his name, he wants it to be a surprise for everyone."

"Oh no," groaned Alex as she craned her neck for her least favorite teacher, "He's not there."

"He would love to surprise all of us, wouldn't he?" said Fred through gritted teeth. "He'd love to see the looks on our faces when we walk in there and see _him_."

It was apparent that many of the students had the same thoughts as Fred. They too were craning their necks and groaning quietly. Professor Dumbledore waited for complete silence before continuing.

"Also, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind you yet again that there is a list of banned items from Hogwarts. See Mr. Filch's office door for that…ah…long list of items. I also hope that, to the older students, this is not new news. The Forbidden Forest is, in fact, forbidden to all Hogwarts students. Now, let the feast begin."

Alex let out a cry of joy as food appeared on the plates. She looked around, expecting to see Ron piling his plate of food, but he was not at the table.

"Hey Percy," called Alex to the older of the Weasley boys, "Where's Ron?"

"Dunno, thought he was with you. It's not my turn to watch him," said Percy.

Alex rolled her eyes at the older Weasley but was starting to worry now. She thought that if Ron and Harry missed the train, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would find a way to get them to Hogwarts. Alex put this worry in the back of her mind. They would be here. Harry loved Hogwarts more than anywhere else in the world. He would find a way to get back no matter what.

After Alex finished her desert, the plates were cleared and she followed Percy to the Gryffindor common room. She went up the stairs to the girl's dormitories and saw that where her old room was a plaque now read Year 2 instead of Year 1. She ran to her old bed and jumped on it. Hermione grabbed her old bed as well and they waited for the other three girls. Parvati and Lavender came in and grabbed the beds farthest from the door.

"Maggie isn't gonna be happy," said Lavender in a sing-song voice.

"She should've gotten here early," said Alex, shrugging her shoulders.

Maggie was their other roommate. She had wanted to be in Slytherin and took her anger out on everyone around her. Alex and Maggie had fought a few times about her attitude, but Alex didn't let that bother her.

The door opened and Maggie walked in. She looked around and saw the only empty bed. Sighing audibly, she sat on the bed and drew the bed curtains around her. Alex rolled her eyes and muttered something like "Drama Queen" before getting ready for bed in the bathroom. As she went over to her bed, she looked for her bag.

"All right, which one of you took my bag?" said Alex, trying to keep her voice light. She had a gut feeling she knew who took it. She was proven right when Hermione pointed to the still closed curtains of Maggie's bed. "Maggie!" she half shouted, "Where the bloody hell is my bag?"

"Don't get so angry for Merlin's sake!" said Maggie as she opened her curtains.

"You took my stuff. Trust me, you're lucky I'm not jinxing you into the next century right now!" snapped Alex.

"I'll give you your stupid bag back if we switch beds. I had the bad bed last time," she said.

"If you don't give me my bag, I will jinx you until you can't tell which way is up or down," said Alex, pulling out her wand and wielding it menacingly.

"Alex, stop it," said Hermione, grabbing Alex's wand arm. "It's in the common room, under the couch farthest from the fire."

Alex pocketed her wand and went down the stairs. Hermione was right, it was under the couch. She checked to make sure all her stuff was in there when she heard the portrait hole open. She looked up and let out a cry.

"Harry, Ron, you're all right!" she said as she ran over to them. "Where were you? We've all been so worried! What's that on your face, Ron?" she said as she looked at a cut on the side of Ron's cheek.

"We couldn't get through the barrier," said Harry.

"I can tell this is going to be a long story and you two look tired. Tell me everything tomorrow morning. Night!" she said as she went up to her dormitory.

After making it perfectly clear that whoever touched her things without permission would receive a very painful jinxing, Alex climbed into bed and fell straight to sleep.

The next morning Alex woke up early and was the first one out of the bathroom. As she waited for the others to get ready, she packed her schoolbooks into her bag. She also wore her favorite jeans under her robes, just to make her feel more comfortable. She was slipping them on when something fell out of the pocket. Alex picked it up and saw it was her favorite picture of her mother and her friends. She smiled as she put the picture back in her pocket, just so that her mother would be with her on her first day back.

Alex went down to breakfast with Hermione and sat across from Harry and Ron. They both looked better than the night before, much more rested and their bruises were healing nicely.

"All right, what happened to you two?" asked Hermione in her matronly voice, which could only mean they were in trouble.

"Well, we couldn't get through the barrier to the platform, so we decided to take my dad's car. It flies, you see," he added seeing a questioning look on Hermione's face.

"We found the school fine," said Harry, "But the car ran out of gas and we ran into a tree."

"Of course, we had to land in the only tree in all of Hogwarts that doesn't like being hit," Ron said, pointing to the scratch on his face.

"You mean, the tree hit you back?" asked Alex, looking surprised.

"Not just us, the car was pretty beaten up too," said Harry, "The tree's called the Whomping Willow. The name fits perfectly. We managed to get out fine, but Snape caught us on the way to the doors."

"Are you two expelled?" asked Hermione.

"Surprisingly not," said Ron, "McGonagall told us we had to do a week's worth of detention and…they're writing to our parents or guardians," he said, looking at Harry.

"Well, that's not so bad. At least you're still here," said Alex.

"My mum's going to kill me. I wasn't supposed to take the car and the fact we were seen by Muggles only makes it worse."

"You were seen?" cried Hermione.

"Hermione, we've already been lectured about how serious it all is. I don't need another one," said Harry.

The conversation ended when McGonagall started handing out timetables. Alex looked at hers and smiled slightly.

"We have Herbology, then Transfiguration, then Charms, then Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not so bad for a Monday," she said.

The fluttering of wings made everyone in the hall look up. Owls came into the room carrying letters to first year children or forgotten items. Erol landed with a crash, but didn't stop to recuperate before taking off again. Alex leaned over to get a better look at the letter. It was bright red and was addressed to Ron.

"Oh no, oh no," said Ron, looking pale.

"What is it Ron?" asked Hermione.

"It's from my mum," he whispered, pointing at the scarlet letter, "I guess they wrote to our parents already."

"Ron, it's just a letter. We won't read it, we promise," said Harry.

"It doesn't matter, it's a Howler. Everyone's going to hear it anyway," said Ron forlornly.

With shaking fingers, he opened the letter. Alex started asking what a Howler was when she jumped at the sound Mrs. Weasley's pounding voice.

_**RONALD WEASLEY,**_

_**HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOU COULD HAVE DIED AND YOU BROUGHT HARRY INTO IT TOO! YOUR FATHER IS FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ONE TOE OUT OF LINE THIS YEAR, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!**_

Silence filled the hall. Ron had turned redder than the Howler. Alex, who had covered her ears to try to block out the deafening voice, looked up.

"Oh…That's a howler," she said quietly. She jumped again as the Howler burst into flames. Finally, Hermione stood up.

"Come on, let's get out of here. We don't want to be late."

Herbology was with the Hufflepuffs in the greenhouses. This year, they were going into the more advanced houses, so the whole class was excited. They were repotting Mandrakes, creatures that looked like very ugly, very dirty babies with a sprout on their head. No one could talk if they wanted to because they all were wearing earmuffs. As Hermione had said, gaining five points for Gryffindor, the cry of a Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it.

"But don't worry children," a porky Professor Sprout had told them, "These are only babies. They're cries won't kill you until they are full grown, but they will knock you out for several hours."

The next lesson was Transfiguration, taught by a stern Professor McGonagall. Alex enjoyed Transfiguration, especially since they would be doing more advanced stuff this year. For their first lesson, they were turning animals into glass goblets. Hermione and Alex were the first to finish, so they got to watch the others struggle. Ron was having a difficult time because his wand had been snapped in half by the tree. He had put Spell-o-Tape on it, but once in a while it would send colored sparks out of the tip for no reason.

"That wand needs replacing, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall told him after his goblet let out a squeak and ran off the table, shattering into pieces.

Finally, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex went to have lunch. They sat down next to Fred, George, and Ginny.

"Hey guys," said Fred, "How's your first day back?"

"Wonderful," said Ron moodily as he grabbed some Shepard's pie.

"Don't worry about the Howler, Ron," said George.

"Yeah, we get them all the time," said Fred.

"You have Defense later, right?" asked George.

"Yeah, why?" asked Harry suspiciously. The twins were wearing identical grins on their faces that could only mean trouble.

"It's an interesting lesson, the girls really enjoyed it," said Fred.

"Well, see you later then," they said together.

Alex watched them leave and shook her head. They never ceased to amaze her. "So Ginny," she said turning to her, "How's your first day going?"

"Pretty well, I hate Potions though," she said, not looking up.

"Don't let Snape get you down," said Harry, "He hates everyone. Hell, he even hates Alex and she's the best in our year in Potions. Snape just enjoys torturing the Gryffindors."

Ginny went very red and mumbled something incoherent. After waiting for Ron to finish his third helping of pie, the four said good-bye to Ginny and went to Charms and then Defense Against the Dark Arts. The classroom was full of chattering students, but no teacher. Alex and Hermione sat in front of Harry and Ron and started pulling out their books.

"Honestly," said Alex as she slammed her books on her desk, "Don't you think one's enough?"

"Be careful with them, Alex," said Hermione as she placed them gently on top of each other, "They could be worth something one day."

"Please, I highly doubt that," snorted Alex, "I mean, they're all pretty-"

But she never got to finish because as she spoke, all the girls in the class let out gasps or squeals.

_Well, it must not be Snape,_ she thought dryly as she turned around.

Alex looked and saw Gilderoy Lockhart standing in front of the class, smiling his toothy grin.

_Oh great,_ she thought sarcastically as she gazed at the love-struck girls around her,_ This ought to be good._

_Author's Note: Hello my readers! First off, I'd like to thank all the reviewers who wished me luck on my exams. My first one is tomorrow, unless it gets cancelled because of the snow. I wanted to post this tonight because I felt bad leaving you all for so long. I won't be able to post until the end of this weekend so I hope you enjoyed reading this! :D_

_Also, on another note, I just want to let you all know that I love criticisms. Crazy I know, but I love to know what you all think of my writing and I seriously try to take your thoughts to heart. Obviously most of this series is completed but I try to go back and tweak things that need to be fixed. However, what I don't like are reviews that criticize the story but don't say what they don't like. If you don't like something, try to be a little more specific than just saying the story sucks. What exactly bothers you about it? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but if I don't know what's wrong, I can't fix it._

_With that in mind, please feel free to leave a review. I know with the last chapter I didn't answer anyone's reviews but I promise that was only because of midterms. I am usually very good about getting back to my reviewers. Thank you to all my lovely fans who reviewed last chapter and thanks again for your support. Wish me luck on my midterms! :)_


	5. Chapter 4 Pixies and Slugs

_Author's Note: Sadly I cannot claim any hold on the Harry Potter series. I only own Alex and any changes you notice from the original story._

Chapter 4 Pixies and Slugs

"Hello class!" he said happily, his light blue robes flowing as he walked to the desk, "In case a small few don't know who I am, I'm Gilderoy Lockhart. I have an Order of Merlin Third Class, am an Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and am the five time winner of Witch Weekly's Best Smile Award."

The girls smiled at him dreamily, even Hermione. Alex stared at him with her mouth open, surprised by his openness of his achievements.

"I see all of you have copies of my works, wonderful. Let's see how much you remember from your reading," He flicked his wand and the papers on his desk started passing themselves out. "You have a half an hour starting…now."

Alex looked at the paper and read the questions. They were all about him! Alex didn't even read the books because they were focused on the author instead of what was happening around him. She totally guessed on every question and, for the first time in her life, didn't care if she failed a quiz.

"Time's up!" the professor called and the papers sailed over to his outstretched arms.

Alex turned to the boys behind her and rolled her eyes. "How do you think you guys did?" she asked.

"Horrible, guessed on the entire thing," said Harry.

"Same here, except all my guesses were stupid. I said his favorite color was lilac or something girly," said Ron.

Alex laughed and turned her attention to the professor who was shaking his head.

"Not many of you remembered my favorite color was lilac." At this, Alex fell into a fit of giggles, but stopped after a look from Hermione, "But Hermione Granger got everything correct. Where is Miss Granger?" Hermione raised her hand, blushing. "Congratulations, ten points to Gryffindor and you get a signed photo!" said Lockhart.

Many of the girls looked upset by this and gave Hermione death stares. Alex mimicked these girls by staring at them with squinted eyes and pouting lips until they looked away in annoyance, rolling their eyes at her and whispering amongst themselves. Hermione practically ran up to get her picture. When she came back, she was grinning widely.

"Oh look Alex," she whispered showing Alex the signed photo of a grinning Lockhart, "It says, 'With love'!"

"Better be careful with that Hermione, I might try to steal it in your sleep one night," she said sarcastically, but Hermione didn't notice.

"Now for today's lesson," said Lockhart, "I will be showing you something quite dangerous."

"Finally," muttered Alex, but Hermione shushed her.

"I warn you, if you are faint of heart to not scream. It might provoke them!" he said dramatically as he unveiled the cage on his desk.

Alex was on the edge of her seat, but when she saw what was inside, she was disappointed.

"Pixies?" she said loudly.

Lockhart looked at her and smiled. "Yes my dear, but not any kind of pixies. Cornish pixies, little trouble-seekers these lot are."

"But they're pixies," said Alex laughing, "I was expecting something more dangerous…like a small dragon."

"Well Miss…"

"Ratcliff."

"Well Miss Ratcliff, I'm going to let them out, let's see what you make of them."

"Professor, wait-" started Alex.

But she was too late. He opened the cage and the pixies flew out, wreaking havoc. They went after Neville's ears and started pulling him up onto the chandelier. Alex felt them tugging at her hair and started sending spells at them.

"No need to panic!" cried Lockhart, "I have everything under control!"

He pulled out his wand and started doing flamboyant wand movements, but the pixies grabbed his wand and broke it in half. He looked at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex who were the only ones left who were able to fight.

"I'll just let you get them into the cage then," he said and ran out the door.

"I can't believe this! He's the teacher, not us! He should know to never let that many pixies out at once!" Alex shouted as she removed some pixies from the curtains with a jinx.

"He just wants us to have a practical lesson," said Hermione as she froze some pixies that were in her hair.

"Oh yeah, this is practical all right! If it's so practical them why are we the only ones doing it?" cried Alex as she took her anger out on the pixie in front of her face and sending him flying against the opposite wall.

"And he had no idea what he was doing!" said Ron, picking up the limp bodies of pixies on the ground, "Alex is right, even little kids know not to let pixies into enclosed areas. They go nuts!"

"He does know what he's doing, didn't you read his books?" challenged Hermione.

"I didn't, they were all about him and not what he was actually doing!" retorted Alex, grabbing a pixie before it smashed a book on her head.

After two hours of pixie gathering, the four went to the common room and sat by the fire. Alex pulled out her Herbology book and started writing the essay.

"Aren't you going to do Transfiguration first? It's due tomorrow," asked Harry.

"Don't have to do it, remember? Hermione and I were excused from the homework because we actually turned our animals into goblets," said Alex, not looking up from her essay.

It was nearly dark when Alex finished her essay. She and Hermione traded papers and corrected the other's work.

"Hermione, everything's good, but, um…you might want to get rid of this here."

She pointed to the top right-hand corner where Hermione had drawn a heart with the initials HG+GL inside. Hermione blushed violently and crossed out the heart.

The girls said good-night and went upstairs.

…...

The first week back was the strangest one Alex had ever had. Lessons with Lockhart were more boring than ever since he had stopped all "practical" lessons after the pixies. Potions was the same as usual. Alex would finish her potion first and sit and watch the others struggle over their steaming cauldrons. Alex was very happy for the weekend because it was sunny and the teachers hadn't given the students much homework.

Alex woke up on Saturday morning and saw the grey light coming over the horizon. She tried to fall back to sleep but couldn't so she pulled on her jeans and a shirt. She went to the common room and saw Oliver Wood with the Quidditch team, all bleary eyed and yawning except Oliver.

"Hi guys, are you starting training already?" she asked Wood.

"Yep, the only team to start this early," said Wood proudly.

"And the only team foolish enough to wake up at the crack of dawn to do it," muttered Fred.

"Can I come and watch?" asked Alex hopefully. She loved Quidditch, but wasn't on the team. Her uncle worked in the Magical Games and Sports department in the Ministry of Magic so the two of them talked about Quidditch a lot during the summer.

"Well…" said Wood frowning.

"Oh come on, Oliver," said Angelina Johnson, a toned dark-skinned girl with black hair and eyes, "She's not going to turn her back on us and tell Slytherin all our secret moves. Unless…you're a Slytherin in disguise!"

Fred and George ran over to Alex and picked her up.

"How dare you try to steal our secrets!" cried Fred.

"For this, you shall be thrown into the fire!" said George.

The carried a laughing Alex on their shoulders and pretended to throw her into the fire place.

"Have mercy!" laughed Alex.

"Never you filthy Slytherin spy!" the twins shouted together.

"Okay you two, that's enough!" said Oliver, "I get it, I get it! Alex can come and watch."

Alex ran upstairs to grab her cloak and left Hermione a letter telling her she was watching the Gryffindor practice. She followed the team to the field, but stopped when she heard a voice.

"Harry, Harry wait for me!" said a first year boy as he ran over to the team.

"Hello Collin," said Harry in a bored voice.

"Where are you going Harry? Wow, is that a Nimbus 2000? Aren't they the best in the world? Do you play Quidditch Harry? Is it true you're the youngest Quidditch player in a century? Can I watch you play?" said Collin, all very fast.

"Wow, aren't you a bundle of energy?" said Alex, looking at the first year.

Just then, Ron and Hermione came over the group. Oliver was at his breaking point.

"All right, team, into the locker rooms! The rest of you can watch from the stands!" he shouted.

Alex, Ron, Hermione, and Collin went to get seats in the stands while Harry and the rest of the team went to the locker rooms. The whole time they waited, Collin asked questions.

"Are you Harry's friends? Do you like Harry? What's he really like? Does he talk about me?"

"Yes, yes, he's very annoying, never mentioned you," said Ron, whose patience was wearing thin.

"Oh Ron, he's just curious," said Alex ruffling the little boy's hair, "Yes we're Harry's friends. I'm Alex, that's Hermione, and the cranky one's Ron. Harry is like a brother to me, as I'm sure he is to the others. Harry is nice, a little shy, and very funny. He talks about you all the time." The last was a total lie but it couldn't hurt. It was obvious the boy looked up to Harry.

Collin smiled widely and then asked, "Are you Harry's girlfriend?"

"Okay, now you've gone too far," said Alex, frowning at him.

They watched Harry practice with the team. They were a little rusty from the summer, but they got better as the game went on. Movement on the field made Alex look down and she groaned loudly.

"Slytherins," she told the others darkly.

They hoped over the barrier and went to the group of red and green.

"Montague, this field is reserved for us! I had it booked for today!" Alex could tell Wood was angry because a vein in his head was bulging.

"I have a letter from Professor Snape saying we have permission so we can train our new seeker," said Montague, who was sniggering.

"New seeker?" said Alex, joining the group.

The team parted and out came Malfoy, dressed in the team's robes.

"Malfoy?" cried Harry.

"Hello Potter, like our new brooms?" Malfoy said.

As Alex looked at them, her excitement took over her reason. "No way, those are the new Nimbus 2001's! They're not even out on the market yet!" she said excitedly.

"Glad you're impressed, Ratcliff." he smirked and Alex stopped smiling. "A gift from my father. Maybe if you're nice to me I'll get you one too."

"Not after your grease was all over it," she shot back, angry at Malfoy and at herself for making a big deal.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor bought they're way onto the team," said Hermione coldly, "They got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion you filthy little Mudblood," said Malfoy angrily.

Most of the members on the Gryffindor team shouted at Malfoy. Alex didn't know what it meant, but got the gist from what her uncle told her. Anger boiled inside her and she started shouting at Malfoy. Any word that came to her mind, she shouted it at him. When she finished her rant, she was panting and shaking with anger. Ron pulled out his wand.

"You'll pay for that Malfoy," he yelled.

There was a loud bang and a jet of light shot from the wrong end of Ron's wand and he went flying backwards.

"Ron, are you all right?" said Hermione, looking scared.

A pale-faced Ron sat up and started retching slugs. The Slytherins were on the ground with laughter. Alex ignored them and ran over to her friend.

"Let's take him to Hagrid's," said Harry who was supporting Ron on his shoulder, "He'll know what to do and he's closest."

Alex transfigured a rock on the ground into a large bucket and walked backwards while holding the bucket so that Ron could spew slugs into it and not all over his front. Hermione helped Harry carry Ron and Collin followed behind, trying to take pictures. Katie Bell held him back so he wouldn't follow them to Hagrid's hut. They saw the hut when they heard a voice.

"And if you need any help Hagrid, you know who to call," said Professor Lockhart.

Harry directed them into the shadows, much to Hermione's dismay, and waited until Lockhart was out of ear shot. Alex knocked on Hagrid's door and Hagrid opened it, trying to keep Fang from jumping on a still retching Ron.

"The bes' thing ta do is ta let 'em all come up," he said to Ron and he turned to the others, "Wha' made him do tha' spell?"

"Malfoy," said Alex, trying to ignore Fang's pleading for every kind of meat he could smell, "He called Hermione something, I don't know what it is exactly."

"Mudblood, he called me a Mudblood," said Hermione.

"No, he did not!" said Hagrid.

"What does it mean?" asked Harry.

"It's a foul thing ta call someone who has Muggle parents, Muggle-born see," said Hagrid.

"It's disgusting," said Ron in a faint voice and he threw up some more slugs, though they weren't as big as before. "Stupid really, common blood, they think…wizard blood is more noble that Muggle's."

"Ron's righ', it's stupid. There's no such thing as bad blood. Look at our Hermione, cleverer than anyone here."

"And my mum and aunt, they were Muggle-born. They were very smart I heard," said Alex.

"Yer aunt graduated top 'o the class she did, and same with yer mum Harry. Alex's mum wasn't far behind either," said Hagrid beaming at them all.

"So Hagrid," said Harry, trying to change the subject, "What did Lockhart want?"

"Jus' goin' on and on 'bout if I needed any help ta call him, thinks I can't do it meself," Hagrid said angrily, "I thought it was him comin' back when yeh knocked."

"But Dumbledore must have hired him for a good reason," said Hermione.

"The reason's 'cause he was the _only_ man fer the job. Everyone's findin' out the job's jinxed, no one lasts more than a year with this job."

Hermione looked down and Alex smiled slightly. "He thinks he's all that, right?" said Alex.

"Yeh bet, came in here askin' 'bout Harry." Harry sat up slightly. "Wanted ta know if Harry here was givin' out photos. How come I didn't get one?" Hagrid asked.

Harry started stuttering, saying he wasn't, but realized Hagrid was joking and laughed. "I told him, I says, 'Harry don' need no photos, he's already famous.' He didn't like that too much," said Hagrid.

"I bet he didn't," laughed Alex.

They spent the rest of the afternoon with Hagrid, drinking tea and attempting to eat Hagrid's cooking. Alex swore her tooth cracked after she ate one of his brownies. Ron was the lucky one who could refuse the food without being rude.

"My stomach is still upset Hagrid, but thanks," he would say and received a withering look from Alex.

Finally, they went up to the castle and to the Great Hall.

"I'm famished," complained Ron as they entered.

"Why didn't you eat the brownies?" snarled Alex as she massaged her mouth.

They were just about to enter, when Professor McGonagall strode over to them. Even if Alex didn't do anything wrong, she always felt like she did when the Gryffindor Head of House came near her.

"Miss Ratcliff, don't look so frightened. You're not in any trouble…unless there's something I don't know about," she said seeing Alex's fearful face, "Potter, Weasley, you are serving your detentions tonight at eight. Weasley, you will be with Mr. Filch cleaning the trophy room, no magic. Potter, you will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," said Professor McGonagall.

"Yes Professor," the boys said forlornly.

As Professor McGonagall left, Alex turned to Ron and Harry.

"Come on, let's get something to eat. Maybe mashed potatoes won't hurt my mouth," she said trying, to cheer them up.

_Author's Note: I'm back, did you miss me? I definitely missed you guys. But exams are over, thank heavens, and I'm back to updating on my usual schedule. I tried to make this chapter a little longer to make up for my absence so I hope you all enjoyed it. I think it's pretty funny myself. :P_

_I want to take this time to thank all the reviewers who wished me luck on my exams. You guys really made me feel better more than you probably know. So thank you all and I really appreciate your support. I couldn't ask for a better fan-base and you all rock!_

_All right, you all know the drill. All comments or questions can be placed in a review or PM so don't be shy. Thank you all, if you have off tomorrow for Martin Luther King Jr. Day I hope you take the time to relax, and I hope you all enjoyed reading! :D_


	6. Chapter 5 A Sad State of Affairs

_Author's Note: J.K Rowling is close to silvermoony77, right? Kind of…not really? Fine, you win._

Chapter 5 A Sad State of Affairs

Alex and Hermione waited up for the boys to finish their detentions. It was well after midnight when they came back. Ron's hands and face were black from polishing. Harry's fingers were covered in ink, but it was the look on his face that made Alex worried.

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked him.

"I…I think so," he said shakily, "I heard something when I was in Lockhart's office…a voice. It said it wanted to kill…to kill someone or something."

"Who was it?" asked Hermione.

"That's just it," said Harry, "Lockhart didn't hear anything, or if he did, he didn't say so."

"I told him he was just tired and his mind was playing tricks," said Ron putting an arm around his friend. "Don't worry mate, you just need to rest."

Alex watched as Harry and Ron went up to the dormitories. She turned to Hermione.

"Do you think it was his imagination?" she asked.

"I don't know, it could be. He did have a rough day today, you know," said Hermione.

"Harry's not one to hear things when he's tired. He's been in a lot more tiring situations before and has managed to get through all right."

They sat in silence until Hermione told Alex they needed rest.

…...

Alex woke up and groaned. It was Monday morning.

_I hate Mondays,_ she thought as she got up and ready.

Alex and Hermione met up with the boys in the Great Hall. Alex sat down and grabbed some bacon and eggs. Harry hadn't touched his food.

"You all right?" she asked him.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm not very hungry," he said. She noticed how he kept looking around for something.

"You still thinking about last night?" Alex said.

"Yes, it was so weird though. The voice didn't even sound human," he shuttered as he said this.

The day flew by quickly. Alex and Hermione, once again, managed to turn their goblets from Friday into the animal it had been originally. They both received ten points to Gryffindor and didn't have to do any homework. Defense Against the Dark Arts was very boring. Lockhart was describing in every gory detail how he managed to slay the werewolf.

"Harry, come here and be the werewolf. Now then, I grabbed my wand and pointed it at him. I said 'Stand down you foul beast!' and he growled, growl Harry…louder, wonderful! Then I shouted a spell that send him flying and watched as he slowly turned back into the man he was before. He never terrorized that small town again. When I came back from my heroic fight, I was rewarded with flowers and a large tankard of Firewhiskey," he winked at the class.

"Professor," asked Alex raising her hand, "Do you mean to say that you cured the man who was a werewolf?"

"Yes indeed Miss Ratcliff," he said jovially.

"But how?" she asked earnestly, "There are many good men and women out there who are werewolves, you could treat them and they could go on to live happier lives."

"Well Miss Ratcliff…you see…it's more complicated than that…it's just that…" he stuttered. The bell rang for classes to end and Lockhart looked relieved. "Class dismissed, I want an essay on my heroic beating of the werewolf by Wednesday, two feet of parchment. Good day class!"

Alex left the class in a huff. It took a few minutes for the others to catch up to her.

"Can you believe that…that prat?" she said loudly, adding a few choice words as well. Hermione shushed her and Ron laughed. "He has the ability to help a whole race of humans' lives be better and he just sits there with his stupid grin on his face!"

"Alex, you heard what he said, it's very complicated. It must take a lot of energy to perform the spell," said Hermione defensively.

"Well, he must've had enough energy to drink a whole tankard of Firewhiskey," muttered Ron.

Hermione looked at Ron and stormed off. Alex only followed her because she was a good friend. In truth, she hated their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She followed Hermione up to the girl's dormitories.

"That little…URGH!" Hermione shouted, throwing up her hands in frustration. "He's jealous because Lockhart's done all those amazing things and he's still in school,"

Hermione ranted for a while and Alex listened, nodding at the right times, but never agreeing out loud. Finally, Hermione stopped and looked at Alex. "You don't like him either, do you?" she asked.

"I'm not going to lie to you Hermione. I think he's arrogant and self-absorbed. He may be good looking, but that doesn't make up for his attitude," Alex said.

"I guess you're right…he _is_ self-absorbed," said Hermione, smiling slightly.

They spent the next ten minutes making fun of Lockhart's love of himself. Finally, after Alex's stomach gave a loud grumble, they headed down to the Great Hall. Along the way, they saw Harry and Ron.

"You all right you two?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, we're good, but starving. Let's go eat," said Alex.

They turned to the doors and ran right through Sir Nicholas. Alex shuddered violently, going through a ghost was like getting freezing cold water poured down your back. The others' reactions were much like Alex's, although Ron swore quietly.

"Hello young Gryffindors!" said Sir Nicholas, also known as Nearly Headless Nick, "How are you this wonderful Monday?" There was something in his voice that made Alex frown slightly.

"Sir Nick, are you okay?" she asked hesitantly. Ghosts had a tendency to be emotional when asked about themselves.

"Just dandy," he said sarcastically and Alex knew something was wrong, "Once again my request to join the Headless Hunt has been denied. And then they lower my pride by telling me in a letter, a letter! They are too cowardly to tell me in person!"

"I'm sorry," said Harry, "Is there anything we can do?"

"No, I'm afraid…wait, yes my dear boy, there is something you can do for me! I am having my 500th Deathday party on Halloween. It would be an honor if you four to attend. Although," he added, looking glum, "You would probably rather go to the feast."

"No, of course not Nick," said Harry, "We'd love to come."

"Oh thank you," said Nearly Headless Nick, smiling widely, "It will be in the dungeons, first one on the left. Oh, Harry," he called as they turned to leave, "Could you possibly tell the ghosts there you think I am scary?"

"Sure…I will," said Harry.

They said good-bye to a much happier Nick and went to eat. Ron was not happy with missing the Halloween feast.

"Oh Ron," snapped Hermione after Ron had complained all through the meal, "It's for a friend, I'm sure you'll live."

"Well, it is a Deathday party," muttered Alex and looked away innocently when Hermione glared at her, not noticing the boys almost choking on their food while they laughed.

…...

The days leading up to the Halloween feast were cold and wet. Alex wasn't exactly looking forward to spending the evening in the dungeons with a bunch of ghosts, but she knew it would make the Gryffindor ghost happy. After their last class, Alex, Ron, Harry, and Hermione dropped off their books and went into the dungeons. The sound of high-pitches screams and something like nails on a chalkboard greeted them when they entered.

"Holy Merlin!" cried Alex, covering her ears as she entered, "Is that supposed to be music?"

The room was filled with over fifty translucent figures, all in old-fashioned, outdated clothing. Then they saw Nick glide over to them dressed in all black and looking very solemn.

"Hello children, welcome to my Deathday party," he said sadly.

Alex didn't know whether to say congratulations or sorry for the event, so she just nodded. Nearly Headless Nick introduced them to many of the guests, who were very interested in them.

"Do they still have Edwina's Liquor Shoppe in Diagon Alley?" slurred one man.

"Uh, no, they closed ages ago," said Ron, looking uncomfortably at the axe in the drunken man's hand. It had blood stains all over it.

They finally made their way to the food, but stopped at the smell.

"Ew, is that a potato?" Alex asked, pointing to the brown-like food with purple spores on it.

They watched a ghost go through the table with his mouth open and sigh sadly.

"I can almost taste the plum pudding," he said gesturing at the thing Alex mistook for a potato.

"Oh no, hide me quickly," said Hermione, looking at the ghost of a young girl. She had long, lank brown hair and large glasses in front of clear blue eyes.

"Who's that?" asked Ron, his voice strange because he was holding his nose.

"Moaning Myrtle," groaned Hermione, hiding behind Alex, "She haunts the girl's bathrooms, crying the whole time about her life. It's not great to listen to her while you're in there."

"Now, now Missy, that wasn't very nicey!" came the cackling voice of Peeves the Poltergeist, "Poor Myrtle would be very upset if she heard what you said. Oi Myrtle!" he called to the girl.

"Oh no Peeves, I didn't mean it I-Hello Myrtle," said Hermione as the girl glided over.

"Miss Granger was just talking about you," said Peeves, trying unsuccessfully to fight back his laughs.

"I was just saying how…nice it is to see you out and about, right guys?" said Hermione, looking at the others.

"Oh yeah…" said Ron after Alex stomped on his foot.

"It's true…" said Harry.

"You're lying to me!" wailed Myrtle, "You were making fun of me, calling me names like they all do!"

"No of course we weren't," said Alex, "We're…"

But Moaning Myrtle wailed even louder and flew away. Alex rolled her eyes and glared at Peeves.

"All right, you've caused enough mischief, why don't you say hello to the Bloody Baron?" said Alex, pointing to a ghost with silver stains all over his front. "Or better yet, why don't I tell him what you did?" Alex smiled her mischievous smile and Peeves flew away faster than they had ever seen. "Nothing to it," she said, pretending to wipe dirt of her shoulders.

Suddenly, a man on a horse came through the wall and started performing. He would take off his head and twirl it like a basketball or throw it into a lady's arms. The crowd cheered, but Nick looked livid.

"Come on, let's leave while he's distracted," whispered Harry.

They snuck out the door and ran down the corridor. Alex stopped and looked around.

"Guys, I think we should've gone the other way," she called.

They turned around and followed Alex. _SPLASH!_ Alex looked down and saw her feet were covered in water.

"Moaning Myrtle," she growled.

They kept going through the water and finally reached the Entrance Hall. Suddenly, Alex heard something.

_"Blood…I smell blood…let me rip…let me kill…kill…"_

Alex froze, not daring to make a sound. It was coming from the ceiling, but no one was there. She turned to the others and saw Harry was looking scared. Ron and Hermione were looked at them both.

"What's up?" Ron asked Alex.

"I heard something," she said looking at Harry, "Is that the voice you heard with Lockhart?"

Harry nodded and sprinted up the stairs, the others at his heels. Alex could still hear the voice, but tried to block it out. They reached the second floor corridor and there was more water. Harry slowed down.

"Harry…what…are…you…doing?" panted Hermione.

"It, whatever that voice is, is going to kill. I have to stop it," Harry said.

Alex was leaning over her knees, panting. She saw something in the water, red writing on the wall ahead. Alex looked up and gasped. The others looked where she was and Hermione let out a small cry. It read:

_**THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.**_

Alex stood frozen with fear. What did this all mean? What heir and what was the Chamber of Secrets? She walked to get a closer look at the wall and realized, with horror, the message was written in blood.

"Alex, what's that hanging on your left?" Ron asked in a higher voice than normal.

Alex looked up and jumped back in alarm. It was Mrs. Norris, eyes wide and fearful. She wasn't moving.

"Mrs. Norris," whispered Alex. She was about to move closer when Ron held her back.

"We need to get out of here quickly, before anyone finds us," he said urgently.

But it was too late. People were just leaving the Great Hall and were going to their common rooms. The students reached the hallway and a few girls screamed. A familiar voice rang out through all the confusion.

"Enemies of the heir beware? You'll be next Mudbloods!"

Draco Malfoy had pushed his way to the front, looking excited. Alex looked around at the people staring at them.

"What's going on here? Get out of my way!" said Mr. Filch and Alex's stomach dropped.

He came through the crowd and locked eyes with Alex. He then looked at the wall and at his cat. His expression changed from anger to worry.

"Mrs. Norris?" he said, his voice full of concern. Alex felt a pang of pity, but it disappeared when he looked at her furiously but said rather calmly, "You've killed her, you've killed my cat. I'm going to kill you now."

He started walking over to her, but a voice made him stop.

"Argus, what is going on here?" said Professor Dumbledore.

Alex felt relief wash over her. Dumbledore would believe that she and the others didn't hurt Mrs. Norris. She watched as his eyes fell on the cat, the blood writing, then on Harry, Ron, Hermione and, lastly, Alex.

"Everyone is to go to their dormitories, except for your four," he said as they turned to leave.

The Headmaster took the cat off the wall and started walking, the teachers and the others at his heels.

"My office is closest Headmaster," said Lockhart, pointing to the door up ahead. Dumbledore nodded in thanks and went inside.

Alex watched as Dumbledore put the cat on one of the tables and began to examine her. Lockhart would make some remarks while this was going on.

"If only I was there in time, I could have performed the counter-curse that would have saved her," he said.

Mr. Filch was standing in a corner crying into McGonagall's shoulder. "She's gone, my sweet is gone. I never got to say good-bye," he moaned.

"She's not dead Argus," said Dumbledore quietly.

"I think-she's not?" said Lockhart, who was in the middle of explaining the curse that might have killed her.

"No, only petrified. Professor Sprout, I believe you have Mandrakes in your greenhouse? You and Professor Snape will brew a potion to cure Mrs. Norris and she will be back soon," he said.

"They did it!" cried Mr. Filch, "They did this to my cat!"

"We didn't do anything to her!" said Alex hotly. She wasn't going to get blamed for something she didn't do.

"No second year could have done this. This is the work of dark magic," said Dumbledore.

"If I may say something Headmaster," drawled Professor Snape, his face twisted in an evil smile, "Potter, Weasley, Granger, and Ratcliff could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Alex looked at Harry and they both knew something else was coming. Snape hated them all.

"However, why were they not at the Halloween feast?" Snape asked. And there it was.

"We were at Sir Nick's Deathday Party," said Alex coldly.

"But why not come to the feast afterwards?"

"Because…um…we were tired," said Alex, trying to think of something quick.

"Without anything to eat?" Snape said, clearly enjoying his interrogation, "Ghost food is not edible for humans."

"We weren't hungry," said Alex as Ron's stomach gave a loud grumble.

"I don't think these students are telling the truth Headmaster," said Snape, his evil grin widening, "I think we should take away privileges of these students."

"Innocent until proven guilty Professor Snape," said Dumbledore. He was looking at Harry strangely, "You may leave."

Alex practically ran out of the room and away from Snape. She turned to wait for the others so they could talk about this.

"Should we have told them what we heard?" asked Alex as they walked to the common room.

"It was only Harry and you, Alex," said Hermione, "I don't think so."

"Even in the Wizarding world, hearing voices is not good," said Ron.

"You believe us, right?" asked Harry.

"Of course Harry, it's just strange, that's all," said Ron with a shrug.

_Author's Note: As an animal lover, I feel for Filch…even though he can be quite a grouch. So how are you enjoying the story so far? Is the pace all right? There are only 12 chapters and a prologue so it's definitely not the longest in the series but I promise they do become more detailed later on._

_On a happy note, here's a fun fact for you. When Lockhart says, "Stand down you foul beast!", I got the idea from Disney's _Enchanted_ because the prince kind of reminded me of Lockhart when he said that._

_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please feel free to leave all comments and questions in a review or PM. To all the new reviewers who reviewed last chapter, welcome to the club and I hope to continue to hear from you! Big thanks to _Lone Fairytale_ for recommending me in her story_ Scarred_. If you're into _Avatar: The Last Airbender_, I highly recommend checking it out as well as her other stories posted. If you have never heard of the show I just mentioned, I highly suggest checking out. It may be on a kid's channel but hey, aren't we all kids at heart? :) Thanks again to all who reviewed and feel free to do it again! ;)_


	7. Chapter 6 Breaking the Rules

_Author's Note: I do not nor have I ever pretended to own the Harry Potter series. Well, maybe pretended but you can't sue me for that._

Chapter 6 Breaking the Rules

The weeks after the attack left the castle in a state of shock. Filch was very upset with the fact that no one was punished for what happened. He started taking his anger out on the students by trying to give out random detentions.

Alex, Hermione, Ron, and Harry were coming back from dinner when they happened to come to the second floor corridor where the attack happened.

"Let's have a look around, see if we can find anything," said Alex setting down her bag and walking over to the wall. No matter how much Filch scrubbed, the grim message remained.

"Hey guys, look at this," said Hermione from a nearby window. Alex and Harry walked over and saw a line of spiders crawling out the window.

"I've never seen spiders do that before, have you Ron? Ron?" Harry asked, turning around to see Ron across the corridor, not looking at the window.

"I don't like spiders," said Ron uncomfortably.

"Really, I didn't know that. Why?" asked Hermione, smiling.

"When I was younger, I had a teddy bear. Fred and George were mad at me because I broke their toy broomstick so they decided to turn my teddy bear into a spider while I was holding it." He shuttered slightly and muttered, "All those legs."

After Harry, Hermione, and Alex stopped laughing, they continued their search. Suddenly, Alex remembered something. There had been water on the floor that night.

"Where do you think all that water came from the night of the attack?" she asked the others.

"Dunno," said Ron as he went to open a door, but backed away.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked with a grin, "More spiders?"

"That's a girl's bathroom, I can't go inside," he said with a very red face.

"No one goes in there anyway, Ron. That's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Come on," said Hermione, "This is probably where the water came from."

They entered the dismal bathroom and looked around. All Alex could find were lots of spiders (Ron was not very happy with this) and water on the floor.

"Myrtle likes to run the taps when she's depressed," whispered Hermione.

"That must be pretty often," said Alex.

They were on their way out when someone shouted, "Ron, what in Merlin's name are you doing in a girl's bathroom?" Percy was striding over to them, looking shocked. Ron turned bright red.

"We're just looking for clues about the attack," he muttered.

"Well stop, I don't want to find my younger brother in a girl's bathroom," Percy said.

"Why, it'll ruin your chance of getting Head Boy?" yelled Ron, "We're just trying to help!"

"Five points from Gryffindor! You better watch yourself Ron or I'll take more points. Dumbledore said everything was going to be fine so stop playing detective and get back to the common room. If I catch you here again, I'm going to write to Mum. As for the rest of you, if I catch you here I'll give you a detention. Now go back to the common room."

Ron turned on his heel and left. When they reached the common room, Ron was in a mood.

"He thinks just because he's a Prefect, he can tell me what to do!" Ron cried as he sat in a chair.

Alex decided not to tell Ron that a Prefect's job is to tell others what to do. He was already angry. She looked around and saw Ginny sitting by herself. She went over and sat down next to the young Gryffindor.

"Hey Ginny," she said, smiling warmly.

"Oh, hi Alex," Ginny said, rubbing her face tiredly, "What's the matter with Ron?"

"We were looking around on the second floor corridor, where the attack occurred, and Percy got into an argument with Ron. He took away five points because Ron yelled at him," said Alex.

"You four aren't going to get expelled, right?" asked Ginny with worry evident in her voice.

"No, of course not!" said Alex surprised. "Dumbledore believes no second year could have done that to Mrs. Norris. It took really dark magic for that to happen."

Ginny nodded, but didn't seem convinced. She went up to her dormitory without saying good-bye and Alex watched her go, wondering what was going on with the youngest of the Weasley clan.

…...

The main question on everyone's mind at Hogwarts was what was the Chamber of Secrets? Alex wanted to look in the library but all the books about it were checked out. It seemed Hermione was thinking along the lines of Alex because she returned one morning from the library slightly annoyed.

"Honestly, the one time people use the library is when they think they can learn about some myth," she muttered darkly, "How are we supposed to learn about the Chamber of Secrets now?" Alex shrugged and led her friend to their next class, History of Magic.

Alex was doodling on her notes while Professor Binns droned about wars that happened over five hundred years ago. Professor Binns was the only ghost teacher and he taught History of Magic, the most boring class in all of Hogwarts. He would talk in a monotone about past happenings while the entire class, save Hermione who was able to pay attention, either fell asleep or did homework for the next class. Alex looked over at Hermione to ask her a question and was surprised to see Hermione had her hand in the air.

"What are you doing?" Alex whispered.

"Trying to find out about the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione whispered back.

"And then, there was the…yes Miss…"

"Granger, sir," said Hermione when addressed by the ghost.

"Do you have a question about the lesson Miss Granger?" Professor Binns asked in his monotone.

"Not exactly sir, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?" said Hermione in her sweetest voice.

Everyone in the class was awake now. Professor Binns looked at the students who were listening with rapt attention and sighed.

"Very well Miss Graner." Alex snickered at the mispronounced name while Hermione rolled her eyes. "Remember, this is only legend, not actual truth. As you all know, there were four founders of this school: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of them got along famously, but one kept to himself."

"Three guesses who," Alex heard Ron whisper.

"Slytherin felt that only those with all-wizard backgrounds should be allowed to enter Hogwarts. Legend has it he had a monster in his secret chamber that would remove all those who he thought were incapable of studying magic. Before he left, Slytherin sealed the chamber and only his heir would be able to open it."

The classroom was silent. Alex raised her hand.

"Yes Miss…"

"Ratcliff, sir. What exactly is inside the chamber?" asked Alex.

"No one really knows. All legend tells us is that only the heir of Slytherin can control it," said Professor Binns. He looked around at the class. "Naturally, the school has been searched many times and no chamber has been found. Therefore, it is just a legend and there is nothing to fear."

The class went into sleep mode and Alex returned to her doodling. She kept thinking about what Binns had told her. Was there really a Chamber of Secrets? If not, what attacked Mrs. Norris that Dumbledore couldn't cure? The ringing of the bell made Alex jump and she started packing her books.

"Hermione, do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?" asked Alex as they left the classroom and to the dormitories.

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully, "The fact that Dumbledore couldn't do anything for Mrs. Norris has me worried."

"But it said 'Enemies of the heir beware'. Who's the heir of Slytherin?" asked Harry as he and Ron caught up to the girls.

"Hmm, let's think, who do we know who thinks all Muggle-borns are scum?" said Ron sarcastically.

Alex thought that could apply to any Slytherin, but knew the one Ron was thinking of.

"Malfoy, the heir of Slytherin?" said Hermione skeptically.

"Think about it Hermione," said Ron, "His whole family has been in Slytherin for ages and they all hate Muggle-borns."

"But how can we be sure?" asked Alex, "We can't just go up to him and say, 'Hey Malfoy, are you by any chance the heir of Slytherin who is here to kill all Muggle-borns in the name of you how-many-great grandfather?' That'll be _real_ subtle."

"Well, there is a way," said Hermione nervously. She looked around to see if anyone was around and whispered so quietly they all had to lean in close, "The Polyjuice Potion."

"Of course!" cried Alex, "That makes perfect sense!"

"It does?" said the boys together.

"The Polyjuice Potions allows the drinker to change into another human for one hour," said Alex quickly, "We could turn ourselves into Slytherins and ask Malfoy questions without being suspected."

"But how do we make it?" asked Ron.

"It's really complicated," said Alex, "I don't even know all the ingredients, let alone how to make it."

"It's probably in the restricted section of the library," said Hermione, "You need a note from a teacher to go in there."

"Who's going to sign a note for us?" asked Ron.

"Only a numbskull," said Alex and her mischievous smile appeared on her face.

…...

"All right class, for tonight's homework, I would like a parable based on one of my success stories. Good-bye!"

As the rest of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class filed out, Hermione, Alex, Harry, and Ron waited until everyone was gone. Hermione approached the desk, shaking.

"Excuse me Professor," she said nervously, "I was wondering if you would sign this form so I could go into the Restricted Section. I wanted to do some more research about your experiences in your autobiography."

"Of course my dear, I wouldn't want to deny my favorite student a chance to get ahead!" he said winking.

He pulled out a long peacock feather pen and signed Hermione's paper. After Alex left the classroom, she erupted into a fit of giggles.

"I can't believe our luck!" she said. "And did you see his pen?"

Ron started having a coughing fit, and Alex was sure she caught the words "fairy" and "priss" in between coughs. They reached the library and Hermione handed her note to Madam Pince, the librarian. She looked at the note carefully and even sniffed it. It passed her test and she showed them to the section. Alex looked around while the others kept watch for any teachers. She ran her fingers over the spine of the books until she found what she was looking for.

"Over here guys!" she whispered. She looked in the index and turned through the pages quickly while trying not to rip anything. "Here, the Polyjuice Potion. I haven't seen anything like this before." Her eyes were shining with excitement. "Look at these ingredients! Moonstone, I've never heard of that one before."

"How long does it take to brew?" asked Hermione.

Alex skimmed down the page and frowned. "At least a month, if we do it right."

"A month!" the boys cried and Alex shushed them.

"By then all the Muggle-borns in the school will be gone!" whispered Ron angrily.

"This is our only chance to find the truth, Ron," said Hermione. She sat next to Alex, looking at the ingredients. "Most of these we can find in the Potion storage room."

"First you want to brew a potion in the Restricted Section, now you want to steal from Snape?" said Harry.

"Fine, if you two are too cowardly to do it, we won't. I just wanted to find the heir of Slytherin," said Hermione, her eyes full of tears.

Alex realized why Hermione wanted to go to such lengths to find the heir: she was scared. She didn't want to face whatever creature that was in the Chamber. She looked at Harry and Ron.

"Hermione, we want to find them too," said Ron, sitting next to Hermione, "And we'll do whatever it takes."

"Come on, the sooner we start brewing this, the sooner we'll be able to drink it," said Alex excitedly, "I just love a challenge!"

…...

Alex was sitting in Myrtle's bathroom over a steaming cauldron. Hermione came into the room holding some leafy substances.

"Barely made it out," she panted, stuffing the necklace Alex gave her in her shirt.

Alex was given two necklaces from her mother, one was her mother's and the other was her aunt's. According to Uncle Monty, there were only three made in the world. The other one had belonged to her great step-grandmother, who was the one who made the necklaces. What Alex loved about them was they made the wearer invisible. All the wearer had to do was turn the knob on the side to the right and they would be invisible. Alex also liked that they were lockets, so she would always have a picture of her mum and dad with her.

"Bring the taproot leaves over here," said Alex.

Ron and Harry were chopping spider legs for the potion. Ron was quite enjoying chopping the legs off, he even forgot about being caught in a girl's bathroom.

"We're doing great here, we just need to wait for a full moon for the moonstone to start working. The only problem is," Alex said looking at a moon chart, "The next full moon is in three weeks. And we need to get our samples of the person we're going to change into."

"What do you mean by samples?" asked Harry.

"It says, 'a piece of who we're changing into', so we need DNA."

"I'm not getting any Slytherin toenails," said Harry.

"You don't need to, Harry. Just grab some hairs," said Hermione.

They had decided that Ron and Harry would be Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione would be Millicent Bullstrode and Alex would be Pansy Parkinson. None were happy with the arrangements, but as Alex pointed out, "All the Slytherins are bad so why not be the worst?" so they didn't complain.

Hogwarts was preparing for the first match of the season, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. The rival houses were starting to get violent against the opposing players. Wood started to have people follow Harry to make sure no one tried to knock Harry out of the game. On the day of the match, Alex was happy to see Malfoy looking pale and not eating his breakfast.

"Looks like a world-class broom doesn't stop the rider from getting first game jitters," said Alex smiling.

"Hi Harry!" said Collin, coming over with his camera, "I'm so excited for my first Quidditch match! I'm going to take pictures for my dad. He's a milkman. He doesn't know that brooms can be used to fly with!"

"That's great Collin," said Harry in a hollow voice, "I'll see you guys after the match," he said to the others.

Alex, Ron, and Hermione wolfed down their breakfasts so they could get good seats. They reached the Quidditch field and Alex started getting an adrenaline rush. She loved the feeling of being in the crowd during a match. Although, she was sure that playing the game would be even more enjoyable. Ron managed to get good seats by pushing his way through the crowd. Alex had just sat down when the two teams came out of the locker rooms.

"AND HERE ARE THE GRYFFINDORS! WOOD, JOHNSON, BELLE, SPINNET, WEASLEY, WEASLEY, AND POTTER!" shouted Lee Jordon, his voice magically magnified as he commentated the game.

Alex cheered loudly when Harry came out. She watched as the captains shook hands and the teams mounted their brooms.

"AND THERE OFF, JOHNSON PASSES TO BELLE, BELLE BACK TO JOHNSON, OH NO, MONTAGUE STEALS THE QUAFFLE!"

The Gryffindors booed at the captain of the Slytherin team. Alex watched as Harry searched for the Snitch.

"MONTAGUE IS FLYING TO THE GOALPOST, COME ON WOOD…YES! HE SAVES IT!"

Alex clapped loudly after Wood made a miraculous save. _WHAM!_ The Slytherin beater hit a Bludger at Wood, sending him to the ground. Madame Hooch blew her whistle.

"Foul! You never hit a Keeper unless the Quaffle is in the scoring area!" she shouted.

Angelina took the penalty shot and made it. A Bludger nearly missed Harry and he dived to avoid it. The Bludger came around and tried to hit Harry again. Harry flew around the field, but the Bludger was still following.

"What's going on up there?" shouted Alex over the noise of the stands.

"It's a rogue Bludger, someone's tampered with it to follow Harry!" cried Ron.

"It's always something in Quidditch, isn't it?" asked Hermione exasperatedly.

Wood called a time-out. As Harry dove down, the Bludger followed. Fred and George grabbed it as it fought to hit Harry.

"Stop the game for Merlin's sake!" said Hermione.

"They can't without a forfeit and Harry wouldn't want them to stop the game because of him," said Alex with worry.

Alex was right, the game continued and Harry spent the time dodging the attacks of the Bludger. Alex saw a glimmer of gold and saw something by Malfoy's head. Harry saw it too and he sped towards it. Malfoy followed and started catching up. Alex was screaming herself hoarse, trying to coax Harry along.

"IT'S POTTER VERSUS MALFOY, COME ON HARRY, PUT THE PETAL TO THE METAL!" shouted Lee Jordan.

Harry reached his arm out and Alex saw the Bludger coming. _CRACK!_ The Bludger hit Harry in the arm. He pulled it in and kept flying, hanging on by his legs.

"Come on Harry…YES!" screamed Alex.

Harry held up his hand and there was the Snitch. He flew to the ground, the Bludger still following him. Harry rolled off his broom and fell to the ground. Madame Hooch pulled out her wand and the Bludger exploded in a shower of sparks. Alex ran over and climbed down to the field, Hermione and Ron following.

"Harry, your arm!" Alex said at the sight of Harry's arm. It stuck out at an odd angle. "We need to get you to Madame Pomfrey."

"No need to worry folks, I am here!" said Lockhart. He bent over and looked at Harry's arm.

"Oh no, not you," groaned Harry.

"The boy's delirious!" said Lockhart to the crowd. He pointed his wand at Harry's arm. "_Brakearm Imendo!_" he said.

Alex watched as Harry's arm deflated. Lockhart held out Harry's arm and it drooped. The crowd gasped.

"What did you do?" cried Alex in fury, "He has no bones in his arm!"

"Well, at least it's not broken," said Lockhart defensively.

Ron, Hermione, and Alex grabbed Harry and took him to Madame Pomfrey.

When Madame Pomfrey saw Harry, she sighed and directed him to a bed.

"What's the matter this time Potter?" she asked in a bored voice. Harry held out his arm, which flopped to one side, and Madame Pomfrey gasped. She quickly dropped her bored manner and became annoyed. "What happened to you? No, I probably don't want to know," she said as she went to a cupboard and grabbed a bottle.

"He was hit by a rogue Bludger," said Alex. "Professor Lockhart tried to fix his arm but…"

"Say no more," said Pomfrey, "He should've come straight to me, I can mend bones in a heartbeat, but growing them back…"

"You can though, right?" asked Hermione.

"Oh of course I can, but it will be a long night, Potter," Pomfrey said as she handed Harry a cup of the liquid from the bottle. He took a sip and spat it back out. "Well, what were you expecting, pumpkin juice? Skele-O-Grow tastes terrible, but it works. Now, I must ask you three to leave. You can visit Potter in the morning."

After saying good-bye to Harry, Alex, Ron and Hermione went back to the common room. When they walked in, all the Gryffindors were sitting around, looking scared.

"How's Harry?" asked Wood.

"He's in the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey said he'll be fine by morning."

"Thank Merlin!" cried Wood looking relieved.

"What did Lockhart do to him?" asked Angelina.

"He removed all of the bones in Harry's arm," said Hermione, frowning.

"What?" cried Fred and George together.

"Can I go see Harry?" asked Collin.

"You going to have to wait until morning Collin," said Alex kindly, "Madame Pomfrey won't let anyone see him now."

Collin looked sad and went up the stairs. Alex, Hermione, and Ron said good-bye and went up to their dormitories.

"Hey Hermione," asked Alex as she slipped on her pajamas, "Do you think Harry's going to be all right?"

"Of course! Madame Pomfrey can fix anything," said Hermione as she pulled the curtains around her bed.

Alex slept fitfully, dreaming of a Bludger chasing her.

_Author's Note: Wow, this is a pretty jam-packed chapter. I think this is my longest one for this story. Anyway, I have my Winter Formal dance this Saturday so I'll try to post that morning before I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get ready but if I can't, the next chapter will be up on Sunday. Thank you to all my reviewers and please leave all comments by pressing the review button below. It's extremely well trained and will only bite if you write a flame. ;)_


	8. Chapter 7 Duels and Hair

_Author's Note: Sad to say, I am not J.K Rowling. If I was, that would be totally awesome._

Chapter 7 Duels and Hair

"Alex, wake up Alex," Hermione said.

Alex woke up bleary eyed. Hermione was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking scared. Parvati was crying and Lavender was trying to comfort her.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking around.

"There was another attack last night," said Hermione, her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh no…who was it?" she asked, thinking of Harry or Ron instantly.

"Collin, Collin Creevey," said Hermione, tears coming down her face, "He tried to go and visit Harry in the Hospital Wing and…" Hermione broke down completely. "Why him, he's only eleven?" she sobbed into her bathrobe.

Alex felt like someone had ripped out her intestines. She had told Collin not to visit Harry last night, to wait until morning. If she hadn't told him to wait, maybe Collin wouldn't have been attacked. She started crying too.

After Alex and Hermione calmed down, they got dressed and went to find Ron. He was sitting in from of the fire, his expression blank.

"We should go and see Harry," said Ron dully.

They went to the Hospital Wing and were let in by a reluctant Madame Pomfrey. "Be quick you three, he's had a rough night and needs rest," she said as she led the three to Harry's bedside.

Alex, Ron, and Hermione went over to Harry's bed and Alex sat down on the edge. Harry opened his eyes and smiled.

"Hello," he said weakly.

"How are you feeling?" asked Hermione.

"Like my arm's on fire," said Harry with a grim smile on his face. "Listen, I have to tell you guys something. Last night, a house elf came in here. His name was Dobby."

"Dobby?" said Alex, her head shot up, but she was shushed by Hermione.

"Yes, Dobby, he was the one who sent the Bludger at me. He wanted me not to come back this year, said something about history repeating itself."

"He sent that Bludger on you?" said Alex in disbelief, "He could have killed you!"

"Yeah, trust me, I know," said Harry, "And that's not the half of it. Last night, Collin was attacked. They brought him in here and I heard Dumbledore talking to McGonagall." He paused and took a deep breath. "He said the Chamber _has_ been opened. If they don't catch the person doing this…Hogwarts will be closed."

There was silence, Alex felt cold inside. If Hogwarts closed, where would she go to school? Just then, Madame Pomfrey came over.

"All right you three, let Potter rest. You can come back later if he's feeling up for it."

They said good-bye to Harry and went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to work on the Polyjuice Potion. After finding about this new attack, Alex wanted to get this potion done quickly. After hours over a boiling cauldron, the others wanted to try and visit Harry again. Alex poked her head out to see if anyone was there.

"Coast is clear," she whispered.

They had started walking away when a voice called out. "Ron! What are you doing here?" It was Ginny. She walked over to them, her head cocked to the side.

"Nothing Ginny," said Ron anxiously, "Just looking around."

"I thought Percy told you not to come around here," said Ginny, "If Filch catches you here, he'll think you've come back to the scene of the crime. I don't want you to get expelled."

"Ginny, how many times do we have to tell you?" said Alex gently, her head sticking out from the bathroom door, "We're not going to get expelled for just walking around."

Ginny didn't look convinced but nodded and left. Hermione turned to Ron and said, "Come on, let's see if we can visit Harry again."

Alex had just sat down and was working on the Polyjuice Potion when Harry came in. She smiled and gestured for him to come over.

"The others just left to go see you, I wanted to finish up in here first," Alex said as she sprinkled some powdered root over the cauldron. "All we need now is some boomslang skin and a bicon horn. The only problem is Snape's starting to lock the storage room after every lesson. I think he realized someone was stealing his stuff. How's your arm feeling?"

"Perfect, Madame Pomfrey fixed it all up. How are we going to get the stuff then?" Harry asked.

"A little thing I like to call…a diversion," said Alex, a wicked grin across her face.

…...

The Gryffindors and Slytherins were waiting in two separate groups for the Potion's door to open. Alex had explained her plan to the others and only Hermione was nervous.

"What if you get caught? Snape's been looking for a way to get you expelled!" she said in her high-pitched voice.

"I'm not going to get caught, look," she said and held up the Filibuster Firework, "I put a time release charm on it. It won't go off until I tell it to. By then, I'll be in my seat and clearing away my things."

Hermione opened her mouth to retaliate, but the door opened and the students started to file in. During all the commotion, Alex tapped the firework with her wand and it became invisible. She slipped it into the nearest cauldron, which happened to be Goyle's, and sat down in her normal seat. She pulled out her ingredients and started working on her potion. She tried to ignore Snape breathing down her neck as she calmly put her newt eyes into the potion and stirred it counterclockwise.

Finally, she got up and filled her flask with her potion. She put it on the front desk and walked back to her seat. With a look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Alex pulled out her wand. Using her cauldron to block the view of Snape, she flicked her wand and muttered the spell.

"We have about a minute," whispered Alex to Hermione.

Alex started putting away her ingredients, counting off the seconds in her head. _10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BANG!_ Goyle's cauldron exploded and the potion went all over the students on the other side of the room, which were all Slytherins. Alex took her chance and ran into the storage room and grabbed fistfuls of boomslang skin and bicon horns. As she snuck out of the storage room, she saw a crowd of students by Snape's desk getting an antidote. Alex sat at her desk and put the stolen items into her bag.

"Settle down, settle down," said Snape coldly.

He walked over to Goyle's cauldron and pulled out a charred firework. Alex cursed at herself silently for not making the invisibility charm permanent.

"Whoever did this," Snape said icily as he looked around the room, "I will make sure they are expelled."

His eyes rested on Harry and then Alex. Alex looked straight back, trying to look innocent. She let out a sigh of relief when class was dismissed and waited outside for the others.

"He suspects us," Harry said as soon as they were out of ear shot of the Potion's master.

"He can't prove it and he knows it, that's why he's so upset," said Alex calmly.

"You got the ingredients?" asked Ron.

"In the bag," she whispered quietly, looking around for teachers. "I need to go and put these in before they dry out."

Alex and Hermione went to the girl's bathroom while the boys went back to the common room.

"We don't want Percy to come around and get angry again," said Hermione.

After two hours working on the potion, Alex and Hermione came back to the common room. There was a large crowd by the bulletin board and Alex tried to read over the heads.

"What's going on here?" she asked an older student.

"Dumbledore's starting a Dueling Club to protect ourselves."

"Awesome!" said Alex, "We're going to learn how to fight!"

"What time?" Hermione asked the older student.

"Tonight and eight, it doesn't say who's teaching us, though."

"I wonder if the boys are doing it," said Alex.

"Of course we are!" cried Harry and Ron as they came through the crowd, huge excited grins on their faces.

So at eight, Alex, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed a crowd of students into the Great Hall. All the house tables had been moved up against the wall, leaving a large open space in the center of the room.

"This is going to be so awesome!" squealed Alex. No one had ever seen her this excited since their first Potion's lesson.

"Wonder who the teacher is," said Ron thoughtfully.

"Maybe it's going to be Dumbledore," said Alex hopefully.

"Probably not, he's too busy," said Hermione.

"As long as it's not…oh no!" groaned Harry looking at the door to the Great Hall.

Alex looked up and groaned too. Professor Lockhart was standing there in midnight blue robes, smiling at everyone.

"Gather round, gather round everyone!" he called as he entered the center of the room, "Can you all se me, can you all hear me? Excellent!"

"Um…no it's not," whispered Alex, making Harry and Ron snicker.

"Now, the reason you are all here today is to learn how to defend yourselves, as I have done on countless occasions. For all the details, see my public works."

"The only reason I'll look at those books is to laugh at him," whispered Alex and Hermione gave her a stern look as Lockhart continued.

"I would like to introduce you to my assistant for today, Professor Snape. I don't want you all to worry, you'll still have your Potion's master after I'm finished with him," said Lockhart flashing one of his toothy grins.

Alex looked over at Snape, he looked livid. What Alex wanted to know was why Lockhart was smiling? Snape looked ready to murder him.

"Now, Professor Snape and I are going to do a little demonstration on dueling, nothing serious of course."

Alex wasn't too sure about that, Snape looked like he would love to do put the other professor in the Hospital Wing…or the morgue. She watched as the two men bowed, Snape merely nodded while Lockhart bowed low to the ground. They each turned around and took a few steps. They raised their wands ready to strike.

"See how are wands are in ready position?" said Lockhart, "Now, on the count of three, we will start. One…Two…Three!"

"_Expelliarmus!_" shouted Snape.

Lockhart was sent backwards into the opposite wall, his hair and robes were disheveled. His wand flew in a high arc and was caught by Snape, who was grinning maliciously. Alex smiled at the sight of Lockhart.

"Do you think he's hurt?" asked Parvati, who was right next to Alex.

"Who cares?" muttered Alex.

"Ah yes, thank you Miss Brown. Very good Professor Snape, showing them how to disarm though I must say, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do," said Lockhart, dusting off his front. He must have noticed Snape's evil smile because he continued, "Let's get into pairs and start practicing!"

Snape and Lockhart began dividing the group of students into pairs. Snape managed to get to the four Gryffindors first.

"Time to break up the fantastic four, isn't it?" sneered Snape as Alex sniggered slightly at Snape's reference to a Muggle cartoon without knowing, "Weasley, go with Finnegan. Potter, go with Malfoy. Granger, you're with Bulstrode, and Ratcliff, you're with Parkinson."

Alex pretended to be upset by this match, but inside she was singing. This would give her the perfect opportunity to get some of Parkinson's hair. She walked over to where Parkinson was standing, drawing her wand as she came.

"Everyone, wands at the ready…and bow," said Lockhart.

Alex and Parkinson raised their wands and barely lowered their heads, eyes locked on the other. They turned and took a few steps and faced each other once again.

"Now on three, you will disarm your opponent, only disarm! We don't want any accidents, do we?" Lockhart said.

Alex wouldn't mind causing an accident to Parkinson's face, but didn't stop to dwell. She waited until two was called and silently cast a shield charm on herself. On three, the room burst into the cries of voices, but Alex wasn't paying them any mind.

"_Rictumsempra!_" shouted Parkinson.

Alex's shield charm blocked the spell and came back to the other girl with surprising speed. Parkinson was hit in the stomach and doubled over, tears coming down her face. Even though the tickling charm had her on the ground, Parkinson raised her want again.

"_Tarantallegra!_" she gasped.

Alex dived out of the way of the spell, sending more silent spells toward her opponent. One of the spells looked as though it did nothing, but it snipped off some of Parkinson's hairs and flew back to Alex, who pocketed them with ease. Alex could tell others had stopped fighting, but she wasn't going to be the one to admit defeat. She kept sending spells at Parkinson and dodged the few Parkinson did send with great agility.

_BANG!_ Alex was flown backward into the wall. She shook her head and looked around. Parkinson was on the opposite wall and Snape was between them, holding his wand out. Everyone else had stopped fighting and was staring at them in awe.

"I believe Professor Lockhart made it quite clear you were only to disarm your opponent, not duel to the death," Snape said in his deathly quiet voice.

Alex didn't say anything and stood up, shaking her hair out of her face. She looked over at Harry and Ron, both were looking at her with amazement. She turned to Hermione, whose hair was messy and was smiling at her. She walked back to her friends.

"What?" she whispered as Lockhart began to go one a long-winded explanation of a time where he did, in fact, duel to the death.

"That was amazing!" said a boy near Alex.

"Thanks, but what did I do?"

"You're wand was sending out spells, but your mouth wasn't moving, that's what!" the boy said, "I can't believe this, I'm still trying to get over the fact I'm a wizard and I'm in second year!"

"I think it's easier not to say them, at least, when you've already mastered the spell. Otherwise, it takes too long to go from your head, to your mouth, and to your arm," said Alex, wondering what the big deal was.

"Still, my parents are Muggles. I thought I was one too, until I got my letter. I'm Justin, by the way, Justin Finch-Fletchley. I'm in Hufflepuff."

Alex was about to introduce herself when Snape came over to their little group.

"Potter, you and Malfoy are going to do a little demonstration," he said.

Alex watched as Harry was led to the middle of the room. Harry and Malfoy bowed and raised their wands. On three, Malfoy shouted a spell and a snake appeared from his wand. People screamed and Alex backed away. The snake turned its eyes on the person next to Alex and she looked over. Justin stared back into the snake's eyes, frozen with fear.

_"Get away from him!_" Harry said. The snake continued to inch towards Justin, not listening to Harry. _"I said get away from him!_" Harry repeated louder.

The snake looked up and turned to Harry and slithered over to him. It lay at his feet and Alex heard its answer clearly.

_"Yesssssss Masssssster,"_ it said.

Harry looked up at Alex. "_Get him out of the snake's line of view,_" Harry said.

Alex nodded and reached out to pull Justin away. He flinched and moved out of her reach. Snape whispered something and the snake disintegrated. Harry looked up at Justin, smiling.

"What's your problem?" Justin shouted and ran off.

Harry looked at Alex and frowned. She was just as confused as he was. Harry called the snake off for Merlin's sake and Justin repaid him by shouting! She looked around and saw everyone looked either frightened or angry. Even Lockhart wasn't smiling. Ron grabbed Harry and Alex and dragged them out of the Great Hall. Hermione opened the door to an empty classroom and they went inside.

_Author's Note: Hello all! I managed to find time between getting my hair done and getting ready for the dance so I could post this. I hope you all enjoyed it and please review! They make me so very happy! :D_


	9. Chapter 8 The Plot Thickens

_Author's Note: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be a lot more famous than I am now._

Chapter 8 The Plot Thickens

"You're a Parselmouth!" cried Ron as the door closed.

"A _what_?" asked Harry, looking annoyed.

"A Parselmouth, it means you can talk to snakes. Why didn't you tell us?" asked Ron.

"I've only done it once before," said Harry defensively, "At the zoo, a boa constrictor told me he never saw his homeland, so I accidentally set it on my cousin Dudley."

"He told you…?" said Hermione, drifting off.

"Yeah, but who cares? I bet a lot of people can speak Parsel-whatever," said Harry.

"No Harry, a lot of people can't, that's why this is so strange," said Hermione, her voice back to normal. "Do you know why the Slytherin house has the emblem of a snake on it?"

Harry shook his head, but Alex remembered with a sudden jolt. She had read _Hogwarts: A History_ back before her first year, but she remembered.

"Because Salazar Slytherin," she said quietly, "Was a Parselmouth."

There was silence as they let the news sink in. Hermione looked at Alex with a questioning look.

"Alex, Harry said something to you in Parseltongue and you nodded. Could you understand him?" she asked nervously.

"Yes, but I can talk to all animals, not just snakes," she answered quietly and a little reluctantly.

"Why are we the last to know everything?" yelled Ron.

"I-I didn't want you all to think I was weird," whispered Alex, "I know not many other people can talk to all animals…I didn't want to be called 'The Weird Animal Girl', or something like that."

"Alex," said Hermione, coming over to her and giving her a hug, "After all we've been through together and you'd still think that? I actually think it's awesome you can talk to all animals."

Alex looked around at Harry, Ron, and Hermione and was happy to have such great friends.

…...

Harry wanted to go and find Justin straight away the next morning, but Hermione told him not too.

"You'll see him in Herbology, remember? And besides," she added, "He'll probably want to avoid you after what happened."

"For the hundredth time," said Harry angrily, "I wasn't egging the snake on!"

"Well, we know that," said Alex, "But after all that's happened, not many people are willing to be trusting."

To Harry's great disappointment, Herbology was cancelled due to the cold weather. Alex had almost forgotten it was the end of November, the year was going by so quickly. Harry was pacing in front of the fire, while Ron and Hermione played Wizard chess and Alex read the book from the Restricted Section. Finally, Alex put her book down and stretched.

"Come on Harry," she said, standing up, "Let's go find Justin and talk some sense into him."

So Alex and Harry went to the Great Hall, but no Hufflepuffs were in there so they tried the library. Alex was pretending to be looking through the books when she heard voices.

"I told Justin to hide out in the common room," said the voice. "We don't want another Muggle-born being attacked."

Alex peered through the books and saw Ernie Macmillan talking to a group of Hufflepuffs. She waved over to Harry and motioned for him to listen.

"I still can't believe Harry's the heir of Slytherin," said a girl with two blonde plaits named Hannah Abbot, "He always seemed nice."

"Hannah, you saw what happened at the Dueling Club," said Ernie, "He was talking to that snake like an old friend!"

"But we couldn't understand what he was saying, maybe-"

"I could tell from the way he sounded he was telling the snake to attack Justin. Potter's a madman, did you hear all that hoorah about him and the Sorcerer's Stone last year? He probably made it all up so we'd think he's the best, and now he's going to turn his back on all of us."

Alex had enough of this. She stepped out from behind the bookshelf and cleared her throat loudly. Ernie turned around and frowned.

"What are you doing here? Stop eavesdropping on our conversations!" he said loudly.

"I wasn't eavesdropping. _You're_ the idiot who's talking about someone in the middle of a public place! If you're going to talk about Harry that way, be sure people aren't around to listen," said Alex, her eyes beginning to glow like they always did when she was angry. Most people took this as a warning to back off, but not Ernie.

"If anyone should know how crazy Potter is, it should be you."

"Did he really go and get the Sorcerer's Stone?" piped up Hannah eagerly.

"Yes he did, and I was there too, so I should know," said Alex, "It seems to me that Hannah's the only one here with some common sense. In case you all have forgotten in you eagerness to accuse someone, Harry has a Muggle-born friend. Why would he want all the Muggle-borns in the school gone if he's already friends with one?"

"He only did that so we wouldn't accuse him," said Ernie matter-of-factly.

"Oh, so now you think Harry's been planning this since he first walked through these doors?" cried Alex, her eyes full of rage, "Then how do you explain the fact he's a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin?"

"He asked the hat to put him there."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you Macmillan?" yelled Alex, "You all are too blind by fear and a need to blame any innocent person to think things through! You know, I wish I could play back what you're saying because the whole lot of you sound so stupid! Use you brains for Merlin's sake!"

Alex turned on her heel and left the library, ignoring the screeches of Madame Pince for silence. She was so angry, she didn't even know where she was going. Finally, she looked up and saw she was down in the dungeons.

_How did I get here?_ she thought.

She had just turned to go back when she heard a door open and a cold voice called her name.

"Ah Miss Radcliff, just the girl I wanted to see."

Alex turned and saw Snape looking at her. He gestured for her to enter his office and she followed him in, thinking fast. So, he had finally decided to confront her about the firework. He couldn't prove a thing, she had made sure not to leave any trail. She sat down in the chair opposite Snape's desk and waited for him to speak.

"That was an amazing performance you put on at the Dueling Club," said Snape. Alex stayed silent, not knowing if that was a compliment or not. "Quite amazing, really," he repeated, sneering, "Managing to cast a spell without opening your mouth, do tell me how you did it."

"I just do, sir," Alex said, "Before I can say the spell, it comes out of my wand."

"Hmm," said Snape, twirling his wand between his fingers, "Interesting."

Alex didn't like the searching look he gave her. She reached into her pocket and gripped her wand. She had just tightened her grip when Snape raised his wand at her. Alex pulled her wand out and the rest seemed to happen in slow motion. As the jet of white light came toward her, Alex flicked her wand upward and the spell bounced off an invisible shield. It came back, hit Snape squarely in the chest, and he flew back into the opposite wall.

Alex gasped as Snape slid down the wall, his eyes dazed. He shook his head and looked menacingly at her.

"Come with me, Ratcliff," he said.

Alex was shaking slightly from the experience. Was she going to get in trouble for hitting a teacher?

_He attacked me first though,_ she thought wildly, _I was just defending myself._

Alex followed Snape up many flights of stairs. They reached two gargoyles and they stopped.

"Lemon drop," muttered Snape quietly, obviously not happy about the password he had to say.

The gargoyles jumped out of the way and Alex saw a moving, spiral staircase. She followed the Potions master as the stairs spiraled upward. Finally, they stopped in front of a large door with a lion knocker. Snape used the knocker and the door opened of its own accord. Sitting at the desk was Professor Dumbledore.

Alex felt her stomach drop, she should have seen this coming. Snape had been trying to get her expelled ever since he first found out about her. He had purposely tried to get her into trouble so he could have a reason to expel her.

"Good evening Professor Snape, Miss Ratcliff," said the Headmaster calmly.

"Professor Dumbledore, let me-" started Alex.

"Headmaster, I was right," cut in Snape.

"About…" Dumbledore said, drifting off.

Snape nodded, Alex looking from the old man behind the desk to her least favorite teacher with confusion. Dumbledore turned his clear blue eyes on Alex, studying her. Alex felt nervous under the Headmaster's stare and looked away.

"Show me, I wish to see this for myself first," Dumbledore said.

Snape nodded once more and Dumbledore stood up, lifting his desk with his wand. Snape drew his wand and Alex raised hers. She had it in her hand since the confrontation in the dungeon. He started sending spells at her, Alex dodging them.

"What are you doing?" she cried as a jet of blue light narrowly missed her ear.

"Defend yourself!" shouted Snape, "Stop dodging like a coward, I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave?"

Alex cart wheeled over the next round of spells, anger boiling inside her. She wasn't going to let Dumbledore see her attack a teacher, she didn't want to get expelled. As she pulled out of a flip, a spell hit her in the foot. Alex fell to the ground, her foot was numb. Snape walked over to her and raised his wand at her face.

"At least your mother would have tried to defend herself," he said, so only Alex could hear.

Alex let out a cry of rage and a jet of red light hit Snape in the stomach. Once again he went flying into the wall. Alex felt warmth return to her foot and she stood up. Snape lay crumpled on the ground, not moving. She stared at the scene, a look of horror on her face. She had done it now, she had let her temper get the better of her. She had attacked a teacher in front of the Headmaster himself, there was no way she could talk her way out of this. Dumbledore walked over to the fallen Snape and muttered a few words. Snape sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

"I told you Headmaster," he said, sounding pleased with himself.

"Yes, yes you did Severus," said Dumbledore tiredly.

Alex stood rooted to the spot. Dumbledore moved his desk back to its original spot and conjured up two extra chairs.

"Please sit Miss Ratcliff, we have much to discuss," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the chair.

Alex sat down and bowed her head. This was it, she was never going to be able to come back. What would her friends say? Then, she thought with a sagging heart, what would her uncle say? She felt her eyes well up with tears, but hid them well. She didn't want Snape to have the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and in came Professor McGonagall and Harry. Harry looked pale and frightened as his eyes darted around the room and fell on Alex. He seemed to relax slightly at the sight of her.

"Harry!" cried Alex, running over to him, "Come sit down, you look like you going to be sick any second."

She guided Harry over to her seat and made him sit down. The professors were over on the other side of the room, whispering amongst themselves.

"What's the matter?" asked Alex.

"Another attack…Nearly Headless Nick and…Justin," said Harry, a dazed look on his face.

"Oh no!" said Alex, "Wait…they don't think you did it, do they?"

Harry nodded and Alex stepped back, thinking. Just then, the office door banged open and Hagrid came in, holding a dead roster.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, please listen," said Hagrid, panting as though he just ran a mile, "Harry couldn't have attacked tha' student, I saw him jus' before the attack, I swear on me life."

"Hagrid, I-"

"It's true Professor," said Alex, "Harry was with me the entire time before, we went to the library to look for Justin. Harry wanted to tell him he wasn't egging the snake on at the Dueling Club."

"Miss Ratcliff, let me-"

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, yeh got ta believe me, Harry would never attack another student."

"HAGRID!" said Dumbledore, raising his voice as Alex opened her mouth to speak, "I do not think it was Harry who attacked the other students."

"Really?" said Harry, looking at the Headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded and Hagrid looked embarrassed. "Oh, well then, um, I'll just be waiting outside then," he said backing out of the room.

"Severus, Minerva, Alex, could I have a few minutes alone with Harry, please?" asked Dumbledore.

Alex gave Harry a thumb's up and was led out onto the staircase by Professor McGonagall. She smiled at Hagrid, who winked down at her.

"What'cha doin' here, Alex?" he asked quietly.

"Haven't the faintest idea," whispered Alex, "I thought I was going to be expelled for attacking a teacher, but I don't know."

The door opened and Harry stepped out, looking as though a hundred pound weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He smiled at Alex as he and Professor McGonagall went down the spiral staircase. Hagrid went into the office and Alex was left with Snape. She leaned up against the wall and put her hands in her robe pockets, not looking at the man next to her. She could hear the deep murmurs that must have been Hagrid's voice, and a softer and calmer voice that was Dumbledore's. Finally, after fifteen minutes of talking, Alex heard the heavy thuds of Hagrid's shoes and the door opened. He smiled encouragingly at Alex and went down the stairs. Alex walked into the office and sat across from Dumbledore, her heart thumping in her chest.

"Well now, thank you for waiting patiently," said Dumbledore, cheerfully. Alex didn't look up from her hands in her lap, so he continued, "Alex, do you know why you are here?"

"No sir. I thought I did, but not anymore," she said quietly.

"I thought as much, you look like you are on your way to the guillotine," he said chuckling, "You are here because you have a very special ability."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, looking up for the first time.

"When Professor Snape told me of what happened at the Dueling Club, I wanted to see it for myself. I could not believe my eyes, never had I seen a student so young have such power. Tell me Alex, when you cast a spell, what is the first thing you do?"

"Uh, I think of the spell I want to cast. Then it just kinda comes out of my wand, I don't really know how I do it," Alex said lamely.

"I want to try some things, just humor an old man," said the Headmaster.

Alex nodded and pulled out her wand. She sat there for a few minutes, wondering what was going to happen. Suddenly, a jet of light came out of Dumbledore's wand and Alex raised hers, deflecting the curse with ease. This happened a few more times, each with a different amount of time in between. Finally, Dumbledore put his wand away and sat down, putting his fingers together in a thoughtful manner. Alex was burning with questions, but waited for the Headmaster to speak.

"You have amazing reflexes," he finally said.

"Sir, what is this all about?" burst out Alex, "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," said Dumbledore, a little shocked, "I guess I should explain myself, forgive me.

"Most wizards and witches are not able to do spells without actually speaking until they are adults, even most adults have trouble. For you to be so young and doing it so easily is quite impressive. Also, generally non-verbal spells tend to be weaker than when spoken aloud. You have shown, however, that you can not speak a spell and make a fully grown man fly across the room."

Dumbledore smiled and Alex grinned. Out of the corner of her eye, Snape looked livid, so she stopped grinning. Dumbledore saw this and continued.

"Alex, how would you like to have someone more advanced in magic teach you how to control you powers? Having this great magical ability takes a lot of physical and mental training and you need someone who can help you."

"Oh, I don't know," said Alex, thinking. "Who would be teaching me?"

"Either Professors Snape, Lockhart, or myself," replied Dumbledore.

Alex didn't like the sound of that. There was a two out of three chance she would end up with a teacher she did not like, though if she had to chose between Lockhart and Snape, Lockhart won hands down.

"Can I have time to think about this?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," said Dumbledore standing up, "Just let Professor Snape or I know when you have come to a decision. I trust you know your way back to the Gryffindor common room from here? Severus, before you leave, I need to have a word."

Alex said good-bye to Dumbledore and Snape and went down the staircase to the Gryffindor common room.

_Author's Note: So a lot about Alex's powers was revealed in this chapter. What did you think of it? All of this comes back throughout the series so I'd love to know what your first impression of it was._

_Sadly there are only four more chapter left in this story. However, the good news is that the third book is next and a lot of questions will be answered…as well as adding a few more of course! ;)_

_I feel bad I haven't thanked my reviewers recently so I'd like to do so now. Without your constant support, none of this would be possible. The same goes for those of you who have me on alert or in your favorites. Thank you all very much and I truly appreciate it. If you haven't reviewed before, I'd love to hear from you. Please don't be shy! :D_


	10. Chapter 9 Into the Green Room

_Author's Note: If I were not a high school student, something else I'd rather be. If I were not a high school student, J.K Rowling me! Sadly this isn't true and I don't own anything in Harry Potter but Alex and the plot points you don't recognize._

Chapter 12 Into the Green Room

Christmas break was coming fast. Just two weeks after Alex was in Dumbledore's office, McGonagall was coming down the tables with a list of who was staying and leaving. Alex had explained to her uncle that she had a lot of work to do over break and she needed a certain book in the library. She hated lying to her uncle but there was a lot to do on the Polyjuice Potion if they wanted it ready by the break.

"Malfoy's staying too," whispered Harry, "Just saw him telling McGonagall."

"That's odd," said Alex, "I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss a chance of seeing his dear old mum. He might get homesick."

…...

On the day of the start of break, Alex said good-bye to Parvati and Lavender as they left for the train. Maggie had left too, much to Alex and Hermione's relief. They didn't want anyone trying to find out what they were up to all Christmas break. After saying their good-byes, Alex and Hermione went to Myrtle's bathroom.

"Almost done!" said Alex happily, "It just needs to sit for seventy-two hours and then-AARRGGHH!"

Alex jumped back in alarm as Moaning Myrtle came out of one of the stalls. Hermione gasped as well and almost knocked over the cauldron on the floor.

"I know I'm ugly," screamed Myrtle, "But you don't need to make a show of it!"

She flew up and they heard a splash. She had gone back into her toilet. Alex sighed and turned to the cauldron.

"Anyway, like I said, just seventy-two hours and we can drink it," she finished, as if none of that just happened.

"That's Christmas Day! Do you have your hairs yet?" asked Hermione.

"Yep, knicked them off Parkinson during the duel," said Alex holding up a tube with long brown hairs inside. "She's apparently going to Italy for the break, but isn't leaving until after the Christmas feast. I'm just going to say her dad is picking her up late. You?"

"I got mine when Bulstrode had me in a headlock," said Hermione holding up her hairs too. "Harry and Ron don't have theirs yet though."

"Don't worry," said Alex flashing her smile that could only mean trouble, "I've got that under control."

…...

On Christmas morning, Alex woke up and jumped on Hermione's bed.

"Wake up! Wake up!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

After Alex pulled off the covers, Hermione sat up and grabbed her gifts. Alex got _The Very Large Book of Animals _from Harry, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Ron, a diary from Hermione, and a box of fudge with a Weasley sweater from Mrs. Weasley. Alex held up the sweater and saw a steaming cauldron on it. She threw it on over her pajamas and looked at Hermione's gifts.

Hermione got _How to Succeed in School Without Really Trying_ from Harry, a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Ron, and the usual box of fudge and sweater from Mrs. Weasley. Hers had a large stack of books on the front.

"Put the sweater on Hermione, it's so warm," said Alex as she read Hermione's book, "This is pretty useful, you know," she added putting the book down.

The girls didn't feel like changing into regular robes, so they went down to breakfast in their pajamas and their sweaters. They saw Fred and George and sat with them. They had their pajamas on and sweaters on too, but theirs were the same color, one with an 'F' on it and the other with a 'G' on it.

"Fred, why are you wearing the one with the 'G' on it?" asked Hermione as she pulled some toast over.

"We wanted to see how many people would notice the difference," said George.

"And so far, no one has. McGonagall even called me George," said Fred.

Soon Harry and Ron came down wearing their sweaters, although they had changed. Alex was really enjoying herself, but she missed her uncle and Erin. She knew that Erin would not be happy when she came back for the summer. This was the only time during the school year when Alex could go home. An owl flew into the Hall and landed in front of Alex.

_"Hello Monty,"_ she whispered as she took the parcels.

_"From your uncle and friend with love,"_ said the owl and he took off.

Alex opened her uncle's gift first and smiled. It was a picture frame with the Hogwarts emblem on it. It was red with gold lining and words, "Gryffindor, the brave and strong" written along it. She turned and opened Erin's gift. She laughed loudly at the gift. It was a purse with the Rolling Stone sign on it. The Weasley's were fascinated with the idea of a band's sign being a mouth and a tongue. Fred and George were imitating the design when a cold voice drifted over to them.

"Hey Potter, nice sweater! Where did you find that, in a Muggle dumpster?" said Malfoy.

"Can it Malfoy, it's Christmas for Merlin's sake! You know, peace on earth and good will to man?" said Alex exasperatedly. Malfoy just smirked and turned to his cronies.

After they had finished eating, Alex changed into some Muggle clothes and went to check on the potion. As she was nearing the girls' bathroom, she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped and they stopped. She started walking again and heard them again. Thinking it was Percy following her, Alex turned the corner, grabbed her locket, and turned the knob to the right, becoming invisible. She waited, wanting to scare Percy by surprising him. Served the prick right for following her around the castle. The footsteps snuck around the corner and it wasn't Percy, it was Malfoy. He turned his head around, as if looking for someone.

"What are you doing?" asked Alex, becoming visible again and stuffing her necklace into her shirt.

Malfoy spun around and realized who it was. He composed himself into a sneer. "Am I not allowed to walk through the corridors anymore?" he countered.

"Not when you're following someone," said Alex, "I heard your footsteps a mile away."

"What's that?" he said, pointing to Alex's pants.

"Jeans, ever heard of them?"

"Don't Muggles wear those?" he asked, his sneer widening.

"Yeah, they do. So what? In case you haven't noticed, I really don't care about your "pure-blood" ways. My background isn't the cleanest in the world, you know," said Alex, feeling hot anger inside her.

"You shouldn't talk about that stuff, Ratcliff," said Malfoy, his sneer fading, "You don't want the heir of Slytherin to hear you or you'll end up in the Hospital Wing like the others."

"Well according to everyone in the school," said Alex hotly, "Harry's the heir of Slytherin, and he already knows my mum was Muggle-born and my dad was a Muggle. I guess I'm going to be the next victim! Better stay away, otherwise the monster will get you too!"

She turned on her heel and left, glad that soon she would know what Malfoy was up to. Who did he think he was sneaking around and following her?

"Ratcliff, where the bloody hell are you going?" shouted Malfoy, running up and falling into step beside her, "It's not safe to walk the corridors alone."

"What's the matter, Malfoy? Are you scared of the Heir of Slytherin's monster?" mocked Alex.

"Honestly, yeah I am and you should be too." Alex stopped short and Malfoy had kept walking. He realized she wasn't next to him and turned to face her stunned face. "Oh come off it Ratcliff. Even though the monster is controlled by a Slytherin, our House is just as terrified as the rest of you guys. What if we pissed off the wrong person? Would the heir really turn the monster on his own House?"

"But you're a pure-blood so you have nothing to fear," said Alex, but not in her angry tone anymore.

"It doesn't matter if I got on the Heir of Slytherin's nerves."

"Well then we know Harry's not the Heir of Slytherin then. You've pissed him off more times than I can count," Alex said dryly as she continued walking.

"Then how do you explain Potter being a Parselmouth?" asked Malfoy with a raised eyebrow.

"There have been other Parselmouths over the centuries of Hogwarts history, Voldemort was one. Are you suggesting Voldemort and Harry are related? Because I can assure you that they aren't in the least. Look," Alex stopped once she realized she was in front of the girl's bathroom, "I'm not going to argue about this, especially with you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do what I came here to do."

Alex nodded towards the bathroom door and Malfoy nodded, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest. Their eyes met in a battle of stares before Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Are you seriously going to wait for me outside the bathroom?" she cried out.

"Someone has to protect you from the monster, right?" he said in a mocking tone.

"Oh great, my own knight in shining armor! Isn't that every girl's dream?" snapped Alex, eyes blazing, "Piss off Malfoy!"

"If that's not ironic, I don't know what is."

"You insufferable git! Why can't you just leave me alone? I hate you, do you hear me? I hate your rotten fu-"

"What's this?" Alex spun around mid-curse and groaned. Percy was looking at the two of them with a stern glare but Alex was sure he was secretly enjoying this.

"Come on Percy, I just wanted to go to the bathroom!" said Alex in an attempt to get out of the detention the older Weasley had promised if he ever caught Alex or her friends here again.

"Nice try Alex, you and Malfoy both get a detention and five points deducted from your house," said Percy and Alex heard the enjoyment in his voice now.

"What did I do wrong?" asked Malfoy incredulously.

"No Malfoy, you deserve this. This is what you get for stalking me," Alex said and glared at Percy, "You know I have resources and that I will use them to my full advantage."

"Was that a threat?" Percy asked a little warily. Even though he had the badge to prove his power, he knew the full extent of Alex's anger and hunger for revenge.

"Nope, just a warning," she replied with a sickeningly sweet smile and Percy decided that was a good time to leave before Alex let her anger out completely. Watching the Weasley go, she turned to Malfoy and said, "Have I ever told you just how much I hate you?"

"Probably, seeing as you can't control yourself when you're angry and usually you're angry at me for some reason," he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and smirking, "What are your resources anyway?"

"A woman never reveals her secrets," she said mysteriously as she made her way to the door, "Go away Malfoy."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Ratcliff," said Malfoy with a sarcastic wave and he left. Alex just rolled her eyes and went to work on her potion.

…...

"We're doing it tonight, everything's ready, except you need Crabbe and Goyle hairs," said Alex, running into the common room half an hour later.

"How are we going to get those?" asked Ron.

Alex pulled out a bottle of bright blue liquid. "This is a very strong sleeping draught," Alex explained, "It'll knock them out for more than enough time for us to question Malfoy and change back into ourselves. Put them in a brownie or something, make sure they eat it, and then grab the hairs."

That night at dinner, Alex handed Harry two chocolate cupcakes to put the draught in. She and Hermione left earlier so they could grab Slytherin robes.

"You think these'll fit?" asked Hermione, holding up some robes.

"It'll have to do, we need to get going," said Alex as she grabbed some robes that she thought would fit.

They went to the girl's bathroom and started preparing the potion. Hermione pulled out four tall glasses as Alex poured the goopy solution into them. They then went into the stalls and changed into the Slytherin robes. Alex had just come out when Harry and Ron ran in, looking pleased with themselves.

"They're so thick!" Ron said laughing.

Alex threw the robes at the boys and they went to get changed. Alex laughed when Harry came out.

"Those are huge on you!" said Alex.

"Yeah, but they'll fit Goyle just fine," muttered Harry as he rolled up his sleeves.

Alex handed the cups out and sprinkled the hairs in her potion. It fizzed loudly and it turned a dull brown.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Alex?" asked Harry as his turned black.

"Pretty sure, I double checked everything and Hermione double checked my double checks. Well, bottoms up."

Alex gulped down the solution quickly. When she finished, she grimaced at the taste and shivered violently. The others were looking at her nervously, cups full and untouched. Suddenly, Alex felt sick to her stomach. She clenched her hands over her stomach and fell to her knees, her eyes shut. Finally, the pain subsided and she stood up. She looked in the mirror and gasped. She was looking at Pansy Parkinson. She turned to the others and smiled.

"Told you it would work," she said, her voice the same. "Oh, told you it would work," she tried again, this time in Parkinson's whinny voice.

She watched the others drink their potions. Hermione felt sick and ran into a bathroom stall, closely followed by the others. Alex was just pulling her now brown hair up when Harry came out.

"You look just like Goyle!" said Alex happily.

"Thanks, I mean…thanks," he said, trying to imitate Goyle's deep rumble.

Ron came out and looked at himself in the mirror, frowning at his squashed, round face.

"I look so stupid!" he cried angrily.

"That's good, it means it's working," said Alex as she walked over to Hermione's stall and knocked. "Hermione, you all right? Come on out and see us!"

"I…I don't think I should go," said Hermione shrilly.

"Why?" asked Ron, coming over too, "Come on Hermione, we all know Bulstode's ugly but-"

"I just don't want to go, okay?" cried Hermione.

"Okay Hermione, you stay here and we'll go," said Alex, throwing Ron a dirty look.

They left the bathroom and started walking down to the dungeons. As they walked, Alex noticed how people were looking at them differently. Some students would give them dirty looks, others would pretend not to notice them. Alex realized how much Slytherins were hated at Hogwarts. As they reached the dungeons, Alex thought of something.

"Guys, we don't know the password to the common room," she whispered.

Harry slapped his long forehead with his oversized hands. Ron groaned, but smiled.

"We'll just ask someone," he said in his best Crabbe voice.

"Oh sure, real smart Crabbe," said Alex sarcastically, trying to get used to calling the boys by their new names, "Because I'm sure many people are just going to tell us flat out what the password is."

"Excuse me?" said a voice from behind them. Alex turned around and saw Percy at the end of the corridor. "What are your three doing just wondering around? Get to your common room now."

"Who said you could boss us around?" asked Ron.

"I'm a Prefect," said Percy arrogantly, "I can tell you whatever I want."

"Is that so?"

Alex looked and saw Malfoy sneering at the older student. He walked over to Percy and stared him in the eyes.

"Come on, let's get out of here, we don't want to be infected by this Muggle-lover," said Malfoy.

"You better watch what you say around me, Malfoy," said Percy, his face turning red.

Malfoy raised his eyebrows and Percy left. He looked at Harry and Ron.

"Just like his stupid father," he said laughing, then he became more serious, "Did you two just get back? Have you been eating the entire time?"

"Yeah," they said, sounding stupid.

"Goyle, are you wearing glasses?" asked Malfoy.

Alex froze and could have kicked Harry. The moron had forgotten to take his glasses off! Why hadn't she noticed that?

"Oh, yeah," said Harry in Crabbe's deep voice, "Just for reading."

"Reading? I didn't know you could read," said Malfoy.

His eyes fell on Alex and his mood changed entirely. Before, he had been laid back, carelessly making fun of his friends. Now he stood up straighter and ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"Pansy…wh-what are you doing here? I thought you left on the train after the feast," he stuttered.

"My dad said he was running late," said Alex smiling sweetly, "He's meeting me in later tonight so I won't get to have the entire time in Italy."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he said, recovering from his initial shock.

"It's fine," she said, pretending to be sad, "I'll get over it. There's always next year, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Come on, let's go to the common room, we can talk freely there," said Malfoy, holding out his arm.

Alex took it, trying not to flinch. She could hear Ron and Harry snickering behind her, but tried to ignore them.

_Author's Note: Hello reviewers! I was in a giving mood and decided to update the day after my last update. We didn't have school today due to snowy weather so I had time to post this. :D_

_I would really like to know what you thought of this chapter. The whole part with Alex and Draco getting detention was something I recently added on and the next chapter will have more of that in it. Did you enjoy the bickering between the two of them? Anything you didn't like or wouldn't like to see? Your comments will help me with the rest of the series so please don't be shy._

_Finally, in case you didn't get my first A/N it was a spin-off of a Monty Python sketch. It's from Episode 3: How to_ _Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away and it's the court sketch. If you like British humor, I highly suggest checking it out online. You can look it up on YouTube. If you do watch it or have already seen it, feel free to send me a review or PM. It's good to know that I'm not the only one here who likes Monty Python! :D_


	11. Chapter 10 Fun Times in Detention

_Author's Note: Although I sometimes pretend to be J.K Rowling while I write this, sadly I am not her. Everything here, except the stuff you don't recognize, belongs to her._

Chapter 10 Fun Times in Detention

They reached a blank wall after walking for ten minutes and Malfoy stopped, a frown on his face.

"What's the password again?" he asked, not looking behind him. Alex and the others exchanged worried glances before Malfoy continued, "Oh right, _pure-blood!_"

A door appeared and Malfoy let Alex go in first. She walked into a depressing room, no windows and no light. Alex realized this was because they were in the dungeons. Above their heads, a green light shone as the only source of light besides the fire place. Alex was shocked to see that the light flickered as if they were underwater. The Slytherin common room was under the lake! She sat on the couch by the fire and, much to her disgust, Malfoy said next to her. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed in to her.

"Read this, you'll find it hilarious." Alex took it and read the article aloud so Harry and Ron could hear.

_On Sunday, December 23__rd__, Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was fined fifty galleons for bewitching a Muggle car. The car had been seen by at least seven Muggles earlier this year and crashed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mr. Lucius Malfoy, one of the school governors of Hogwarts, has called for Mr. Weasley's resignation._

_"He has brought disgrace to the Ministry and the name of Wizards," Mr. Malfoy told our reporter, "He must be dismissed before he does anymore damage."_

_Mr. Wealsey has no comments on the situation, but his wife told our reporter that if he did not get off their property, she would send the garden gnomes on them._

Alex looked up and Ron, who was pale and shaking slightly. She looked at Malfoy's expectant face and managed a small smile. He seemed satisfied with that and took the paper back.

"So, what do you like about Italy? I've been there several times myself, you know," asked Malfoy

"Oh…I don't know, it's all so pretty," she said, trying not to stray off topic, "You know though, I don't really want to leave."

"Why?" asked Malfoy.

"Well, you're going to think I'm stupid if I tell you, but I don't want any of my friends to get attacked while I'm away," she said, "I feel it would be my fault that I wasn't there to protect them, since I'm a pureblood and the monster won't attack me."

"That's not stupid," said Malfoy, putting an arm around Alex, "And you shouldn't blame yourself if it does happen. Besides, the monster won't attack any Slytherins."

"But how do you know that?" asked Alex, not too happy about the arm around her and thinking about her earlier conversation with Malfoy, "What if the monster makes a mistake and attacks a Slytherin? What if I made the heir angry and he or she wants revenge?"

"Only the heir of Slytherin can control the monster, and if they're a true Slytherin, they won't attack their own house mates," said Malfoy calmly.

"Yeah, but what if-?"

"Pansy, you think too much," laughed Malfoy, "Everything will be fine, in fact probably better with that monster here. Now all the Mudbloods in the school will get what they deserve. My father told me the last time the Chamber was opened, a Mudblood died. We can only hope it might happen again."

"Your father was at school when it happened before?" asked Harry.

"Of course not you idiot, that was over fifty years ago!" snapped Malfoy, "My father did tell me that the person who opened it last time was expelled. Father said not to get caught up in all of this though," he added, "He told me to leave it to Dumbledore to settle everything. Have you noticed there's been nothing in the papers about all the attacks? Is that his great way of settling things? Sooner or later people are bound to find out." Malfoy turned back to Alex and smiled. "I have something for you, I was going to give it to you before Christmas but I never had the time."

He pulled out a black velvet box and handed it to Alex. With a questioning look at Malfoy, she opened it and gasped. It was a necklace in the shape of a snake. The entire thing was made of diamonds except for the eye, which was a dark green emerald. Speechless, she looked up.

"It's…I mean…Wow," she said laughing.

"Do you like it?" he asked nervously.

"Like it? Are you kidding me, I love it!" she said, looking at the snake again and sighed, "But I can't accept this. It must have cost you a fortune."

"Not really," he said, "I got a summer job in Knockturn Alley and this was one of the pieces. My boss said I did such a fantastic job there, so I could pick anything I wanted for half the price. I saw this and thought of you."

He helped Alex put it on. She saw Harry and Ron's stupid stunned looks and smiled at them. She walked over to a mirror and almost screamed aloud. Her hair was starting to get darker, the potion was wearing off.

"I've got to go!" she said, looking at her watch, "I was supposed to meet my father fifteen minutes ago. Thank you so much for the gift," she said to Malfoy as she turned to leave.

Malfoy grabbed Alex's hand and kissed it in good-bye. Alex tried not to look angry, so she smiled. That seemed to make him braver and he kissed her cheek. Alex turned and ran before she could punch him in the face. Oh he was _so_ going to pay for that later!

As she ran back to the bathrooms, she felt her stomach clench and her robes were getting bigger on her. She willed herself to run faster, despite the lurching feeling in her stomach. Finally, she banged open the door to the bathroom, panting.

"Hermione, boy do we have so much to tell you," said Alex, completely herself once more.

"Go away!" cried Hermione.

Moaning Myrtle came out of the stall where Hermione's voice came from, smiling. Alex had never seen her smile and never wanted to again. It was more like a grimace.

"Oohh, you should see her," squealed Myrtle.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" asked Alex tentatively.

Alex opened the door and what she saw scared her. Hermione was bent over the toilet, but she had a tail. Slowly, she turned to face Alex. Her face was covered in fur and she had pointed ears on the top of her head. Hermione had turned into a cat.

"Oh no, Hermione! You grabbed cat hairs instead, didn't you?" asked Alex, giving her friend a hug.

"I must have!" sobbed Hermione.

The bathroom door banged open again and Harry and Ron came in. Ron gave a loud shout at the sight of Hermione.

"Holy Merlin, what happened to you?" he shouted.

Hermione started sobbing harder and Myrtle was cackling above them all.

"Thanks Ron," said Alex over the noise, "That's really classy. She grabbed cat hairs instead of Bulstrode's hairs. And you," she turned up to Myrtle who was still laughing at Hermione's ears, "You're the most ugly, emotional girl I have ever met. If you were alive, I bet you would have scared off anyone who would ever want to be friends with you."

Myrtle stopped laughing and screamed. She flew straight through Alex and into a toilet. Alex shivered and turned back to the others.

"Sorry, she was really annoying me. Anyway, we need to get Hermione to the Hospital Wing. I'll think of some excuse, just as long as Snape's not there. He'll realize what it is."

…...

Hermione stayed in the Hospital Wing for a few weeks. A lot of people thought she had been attacked, even though Alex told them she was just sick. When term started up again, Harry, Ron, and Alex would bring Hermione her homework.

"Hey Hermione!" said Alex, sitting on her bed with a bunch of textbooks in hand. "You look so much better, your face is almost back to normal."

"Yeah, your eyes are a little green, but that's it," said Ron, sitting on the other bed.

"Thanks guys. Have you found anything that could tell us who the heir is?" she whispered so only they could hear her.

"Nothing, it's been pretty quiet since the attack on Justin," said Harry.

Once they were assured that Hermione would make a full recovery, Alex and the boys told Hermione about their failed mission in the Slytherin common room. Since then, they hadn't been able to figure anything else out. The attacks had seemed to stop for the time being.

"I don't know whether to be happy or worried," said Alex.

"Well I would be worried about your detention tonight," Hermione said with a stern look at her friend. Alex looked at her with confusion so Hermione elaborated, "Detention with Malfoy, remember? Who's the moderator?"

"Professor Flitwick," said Alex as she felt her stomach drop. She had forgotten about her detention with all the fuss about the Polyjuice Potion. "But he likes me so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm worried though because it's my first detention."

"How is it that you went a whole year without a detention?" laughed Harry, "You're the most troublesome witch I know!"

"Because I'm good at not getting myself caught," Alex joked and was glad that Harry was trying to make her smile.

Just then, Madame Pomfrey told them to leave and the three went to the common room. Alex ran up to her dormitory to get ready for her detention. She decided on wearing her hair back in a ponytail in case they had to do manual labor for their detention instead of only lines. When she returned to the common room, she sat down beside the boys and stared at the fire.

"Um, Alex? You do realize your detention is in ten minutes, right?" said Harry, looking at his watch.

"Yeah, I do. I'm just preparing myself for the horribleness," she said, looking at her friend with a nervous smile, "Any advice?"

"Just go in there and do whatever needs to be done as swiftly as possible," Harry replied encouragingly, "If Malfoy starts talking to you, ignore him. He'll probably try to egg you on so you land yourself in another detention."

"Also, try not to puke slugs all over the object you have to clean if that's what you're doing," said Ron with a grin, "It doesn't help much."

"I'll remember that, thanks guys. You're the best!" Alex said with a smile of her own and leapt to her feet, "If I'm not back by midnight, send a search party. It means Malfoy and I managed to kill each other."

The guys laughed as Alex ran out of the common room and to Professor Flitwick's classroom. When she arrived, it was only Malfoy who was in there sitting up front. Alex took a seat a few desks away from him and they sat in silence as the minutes ticked by. She checked her watch and saw it was five minutes past eight. Where was Flitwick?

"Well this is fun," Malfoy drawled, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head, "Although I'd take this over a trip into the Forbidden Forest any day."

"I've heard those centaurs are a nasty bunch," muttered Alex, remembering when Harry came back from that detention. He had looked so frightened when he talked about seeing Voldemort again and when the centaur, Bane, told his companion he should have not interfered and saved Harry.

"It's not the centaurs you have to worry about. They're werewolves in there too."

"Please, that's just a rumor," snorted Alex. She had asked Hagrid about it once and he was adamant in saying there were no werewolves in the forest. He said Dumbledore would never allow them to be so close to children.

"And how would you know? You've never been in there," said Malfoy, looking over at her from his lounging position.

"Thank Merlin I haven't, but I've got resources," she replied with a smirk.

Casually, Alex gripped her wand in her robes and flicked it. Malfoy's chair slipped as though someone had kicked it and he toppled over. Alex couldn't keep her laughter controlled and she let out a bark of laughter as the Slytherin got to his feet.

"That's what you get for not keeping all four feet on the ground," Alex said through her laughs.

"How'd you do that? I know you did something," asked Malfoy, narrowing his eyes at her. When Alex didn't speak, he shook his head and continued, "You are one hell of a strange girl, Ratcliff. Sometimes I think you'd make a good Slytherin."

"Sod off, Malfoy!" she hissed, eyes fiery, "I'm nothing like your Muggle-hating friends!"

"You know, people always forget what Slytherins are _really_ known for," he said with a sigh, "_Or perhaps in Slytherin/You'll make your real friends,/Those cunning folk use any means/To achieve their ends._"

"That's…That's what the Sorting Hat said before we got Sorted," said Alex in shock, "You remembered that?"

"I needed something else to think about," Malfoy said with a shrug, "Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't Mr. Calm when I walked into Hogwarts. My father didn't tell me anything, seemed to believe it would take away from the magic of it all."

"Would it have?" she asked curiously.

"Probably," he said with a smirk, "Although I could have rubbed my information in the faces of all those Mudbloods."

"Really Malfoy?" shouted Alex, slamming her hands on the desk and rising to her feet, "Just when we're starting to have a civil conversation, you have to go and say something stupid like that. Why do you think you're so special compared to them, huh? Because you have different ancestors?"

"Those ancestors happen to be from the purest of Wizarding blood, something you would know nothing about," snarled Malfoy.

"And what's the bloody difference?" Alex yelled, her chest swelling with hot anger, "It doesn't make you any better than the rest of us. Hermione is Muggle-born and she's kicking your bloody ass in every single class! Having an all-magic background doesn't make you any smarter than others. In fact, when you prance around like your God's gift to mankind and flaunt your heritage, it makes you look like a greater ass than you already are!"

"Of course it wouldn't matter to you, you're from nothing," he sneered, getting to his feet as well and walking around his desk so he was facing her, "Your father is a filthy Muggle, completely worthless. Your mother, oh she thought herself so special coming to Hogwarts. I've heard it all from my father, her and her sister hung around with that Mudblood Evans and the blood traitor Lenns. They all thought they were something special, but look what happened to them? Look at who's dead and who's alive."

"My parents were far nobler than yours could ever dream of being," said Alex quietly as she felt her chest deflate as she tried not to burst into tears, "And those people may have died, but their stories live on. As long as there are people in this world who can tell their stories, they will be remembered far longer than your family and their friends will ever be."

She met Malfoy's eye and they stared at each other for a moment before the door banged open and little Professor Flitwick came running in, panting. The students returned to their seats as they watched the professor reach his desk.

"Terrible sorry I'm late," Flitwick said once he regained his breath, "I had completely forgotten about this. I hope you two have been behaving?"

"Like little angels," replied Alex innocently, ignoring Malfoy's stare.

For their detention, Alex and Malfoy just had to write lines. Alex was grateful that it was nothing that involved the two of them working together since she couldn't even bring herself to look at that blonde Slytherin. After two hours of writing, Flitwick dismissed them and Alex sprinted out of the room. She ran until she had no idea where she was and stopped, leaning against a wall and sliding down. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered Malfoy's harsh words and a sob escaped her before she could stop it.

He knew nothing about her parents or what they went through for her. How could he say such horrible things about people he didn't even know? Malfoy just blindly went along with what his family and Housemates believed, like some mindless zombie! He never thought for himself and was comfortable in letting others make decisions for him.

Footsteps caused Alex to stop mid-sob and quickly get to her feet. She pulled out her wand and held it out, waiting for whoever it was to round the corner. Much to her anger, it was Malfoy who came around. He took in her watery eyes, red face, and pointed wand in one glance before he raised his arms in surrender.

"Merlin Ratcliff, the lines weren't that bad," he said mockingly.

"You know damn well this has nothing to do with the detention," snapped Alex, gripping her wand tighter, "Before I jinx you into oblivion, I want you to listen to me. I hate you. Not dislike you, not "really not like" you, just good old-fashioned pure hate."

"Shockingly I managed to figure that out."

"Shut up! I hate you with every fiber of my being. From your stupid smirk and slimy hair to your superior attitude and snide comments, I hate it all. And you know what? I'm not the only one who hates you, because everyone in this school does as well. They all find you repulsive in your behavior and want to wipe that Malfoy smirk you always wear right off your face. Oh sure, your Slytherins may adore you because of who your father is but don't bet on them sticking around when you really need someone to rely on. Like you said so yourself Malfoy, "_Those cunning folk use any means/To achieve their ends._" And when they get what they want out of you, they'll hang you out to dry and the rest of us will just point and laugh. The sad part about that is you'll probably do the same thing to them. _That_, Draco Malfoy, is why I hate you. You never think of anyone but yourself. _Stupify!_"

Malfoy fell to the ground and Alex let out a sigh. She flicked her wand and watched Malfoy hover above the ground as she directed his body to a shadowy corner. Alex performed a few more jinxes (turning his hair flamingo pink, covering his face and arms in puss boils, etc.) before leaving him and returning to her common room. She saw that the guys were waiting for her by their usual place near the fire and went to sit beside them.

"So what did you have to do in detention, Alex?" asked Ron as she joined them, "Nothing too stressful I hope?"

"We wrote lines," she said calmly and Harry frowned slightly.

"So…er…how was it?" he asked worriedly.

"Cathartic," Alex replied with a sly smile and went to her dormitory, leaving Harry and Ron very confused and slightly fearful.

_Author's Note: I have to say, this is my favorite chapter in this book. However, my opinion doesn't really matter since I'm not the one who reads and reviews this. What did you all think? I wanted to show the tiny bit of good in Malfoy, did you think I succeeded? Of course I had to have him say something nasty. Can't have him being too nice now, can we? ;)_

_I'd like to thank all my reviewers, those who put me on alert, and those who have me in their favorites. Your support is what keeps me going so thank you so much for that! :D_


	12. Chapter 11 A Mystery Solved

_Author's Note: I don't own anything you recognize, sorry to disappoint. I'd just like to say right now that I know absolutely nothing about snakes so the names mentioned came from my brain. Please don't laugh too hard at me…_

Chapter 11 A Mystery Solved

Harry, Ron, and Alex were returning from a visit with Hermione in the Hospital Wing when they heard a voice.

"It's Filch," whispered Alex as she listened hard, "He's complaining about something, of course he always is."

They waited until his voice died away and they ran in the direction he came from. Soon they found themselves in the second floor corridor, by Myrtle's bathroom. The whole place was flooded.

"She's so emotional," muttered Alex, as she waded through the water.

Harry reached the door first and opened it. Sobs were the first thing to reach their ears. As they entered, Myrtle looked up at the trio.

"Come back to throw something else at me?" she said though her tears.

"Why would we throw something at you?" asked Harry.

Alex could think of a million reasons, but decided not to voice them aloud. Myrtle was already in a moody state.

"How should I know?" she snapped and then her voice softened, "I was sitting in the U-bend think about death, minding my own business, and someone threw a book at me."

She pointed to a little leather bound book that was floating in the river of water. Alex picked it up and thumbed through it. The pages were all dry and empty. She turned to the back cover and saw little gold writing on the back. Squinting her eyes, she read aloud, "_Tom Marvolo Riddle_. Who's that?" she asked Harry and Ron, looking up with a frown.

"Dunno, sounds really familiar though," said Ron distractedly before continuing, "Myrtle, I thought ghosts couldn't feel anything, so it wouldn't have hurt when the book hit you right? It would have just gone through you."

"Ron, I think-" started Alex, but Myrtle's yell drowned her out.

"Oh sure," she screamed, "Let's all throw things at Myrtle because she can't feel it. Ten points if it goes through her body and fifty points if it goes through her head!"

She let out a piercing scream and landed in the toilet with a loud splash. Alex, soaked from head to toe, looked at Ron icily.

"Ron, next time you try to say something, I will personally duct tape your mouth, got it?"

Ron opened his mouth to ask what exactly duct tape was, but Harry silenced him with an elbow to the ribs. They headed back to the common room and Alex dried off by the fire. She took out the necklace Malfoy gave her when she was Parkinson and sighed. It was very pretty, but she would have to give it to Parkinson. It was for her anyway. She walked over to the portrait door and went to the Owlery. She walked inside and called her owl down.

_"Monty…Monty! Come down, I have a job for you,"_ she called. The Owlery was the only place in the castle where she could talk to the owls freely.

The raven-black owl flew down and landed on Alex's outstretched arm. She wrapped the necklace in silver and green paper and tied it to Monty's leg.

_"I need you to take this to a girl named Pansy Parkinson. She's a Slytherin, but you won't be able to get to their common room because it's in the dungeons and below the lake."_

_"Ew, why do I have to do that?"_ he said, his voice full of disgust.

_"Long story short: someone gave this to me thinking I was her. If you do this I promise you'll never have to go near a Slytherin…and I'll give you those owl treats you like."_

_"The mouse flavored ones?"_ Monty asked hopefully. He was a sucker when it came to treats.

_"Yep, and maybe even some pumpkin juice too,"_ said Alex smiling. Monty had developed a liking for pumpkin juice.

Monty flapped his wings and flew out the window. Alex watched him disappear into the darkening sky. She must have stood there for some time because by the time she left the Owlery, the torches were lit in the corridors. When she came into the common room, she saw Hermione sitting in an armchair by the fire.

"HERMIONE!" screamed Alex, running over to her best friend, "You're out of the Hospital Wing early! I thought you were coming out this Friday."

"I was better so she let me come back," said Hermione smiling, "Glad you're happy."

"Of course I-" but she stopped when she heard Harry and Ron coming over, both looking upset about something. "What's up with you two?"

"It was Hagrid who opened the Chamber last time," said Harry.

"Hagrid? What would make you say something so stupid?" asked Hermione.

Harry told Hermione about the leather book they found, which was a diary. "I wrote in it to see what would happen and someone wrote back, Tom Riddle," he said, "He showed me how he captured the person who had the monster and it was Hagrid."

"I don't believe that," said Alex, "Hagrid would never want to kill off Muggle-borns in the school. Remember how upset he was when Malfoy called Hermione that awful word?"

"Riddle said he didn't think Hagrid meant for it to hurt anyone, but you should have seen this thing. It was huge! It could have killed anything just by sitting on it," said Harry.

"THAT'S IT!" cried Ron so loudly that Alex jumped and banged her elbow on the table, "T.M Riddle won an award for doing a special service to the school, he won it because he caught the Heir of Slytherin!"

"How the bloody hell do you know that?" growled Alex, rubbing the elbow she hit.

"Filch made me clean the stupid award fifty times. You'd remember it too if you vomited slugs all over it and had to clean it up."

…...

February came cold and windy. Alex was walking back from Herbology, soaked to the bone, when she heard Lockhart talking to Professor McGonagall.

"I guess the Heir of Slytherin heard I knew where the Chamber was and decided to stop the attacks. We need to get some cheer back into this place and I know just the way to do it," Lockhart said happily.

The next morning, February the fourteenth, Alex walked down the breakfast, but stopped at the doors. The whole Great Hall was covered in pink and red decorations. She sat down next to Harry and Ron, both were looking at the lacey pink napkins with disgust.

"Happy Valentine's Day everyone!" said Lockhart from the Staff table.

Alex looked up and almost choked on her orange juice. Lockhart was wearing bright pink robes with a heart shaped hat. He started passing out pins that read, "Happy Valentine's Day!" from a lacey basket. Alex looked at the pin that a picture of him smiling widely. She promptly threw it over at the Slytherin table and it hit Malfoy in the head.

"What a pansy!" said Alex as she ate her eggs.

That wasn't the end of it. Alex was walking down the hallway when a little gnome dressed as a cherub stopped her.

"I have a Valentine for you," he said, pulling out a Valentine from his pink tutu and handing it to her.

"Oh, thanks…I think," said Alex, taking it from the pink gnome.

The rest of the day, Alex was stopped by gnomes with Valentines. At first, Alex was embarrassed by the attention, but later she got annoyed.

"Look, I need to get to class, just sing the stupid Valentine later!" she cried as she ran to Potions class.

After class, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex started heading up to their common room. A gnome appeared and Alex hid behind the boys. However, this time it was for Harry.

"I have a singing Valentine for a Mr. Potter," said the gnome.

Harry blushed and looked for an escape. When he tried to run, the gnome grabbed his bag and it ripped, sending ink everywhere. After an embarrassing song, Harry started gathering his belongings. Malfoy came up, tears in his eyes from laughing, and picked up Riddle's diary.

"Oh look, Potter's diary," said Malfoy, making his voice heard.

"Hand it over Malfoy," said Harry quietly.

"Not until I look at it," he drawled.

Harry wiped out his wand and shouted, "_Expelliarmus!_". The diary came out of Malfoy's hands and Alex caught it.

"Harry, no magic in the corridors!" said Percy, making his way through the crowd with Ginny right behind him, "I'm going to have to report you."

"I don't think your boyfriend liked your Valentine much," said Malfoy and he left.

Ginny, who was looking at Alex, turned and ran, crying as she did so. Alex helped Harry pick up his belongings, all covered in black ink. They went up to the common room and Alex and Hermione started removing the ink with magic. Alex picked up Riddle's diary and opened it. The pages were blank even though all of Harry's other books were drenched.

"Harry, look at this," she said, showing Harry the diary.

Harry leafed through the book, but didn't seem interested in it.

"When I wrote to Riddle, the ink was absorbed. It must've done the same here. I need to rest," said Harry, stretching as he stood up, "The next Quidditch match is coming up and Wood will be starting his early morning practices soon."

Alex nodded and waved to Harry as he went to bed. Looking around the common room, she smiled wickedly as she saw the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan off in a corner, clearly plotting something illegal. Stretching, she got up and told her friends she'd be right back.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked suspiciously, eyeing the trouble makers.

"I think it's time that I used my resources for revenge. Sorry Ron, but Percy got on my bad side before and he must pay," she said with a wink.

"Be my guest, he's getting on my nerves as well," Ron replied, not looking up from his essay while Hermione rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.

"Thanks for your permission, Ron," laughed Alex as she turned to face the older boys, "Oi Fred, George, Lee! What do you say we play a little prank on a certain Prefect?"

…...

The next morning, Professor McGonagall handed the second years a sheet of paper with a list of classes on it. Alex looked down the list: Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Divination, or Care of Magical Creatures.

"Well, I think I can rule out Muggle Studies, seeing as I lived as a Muggle for the past eleven years," Alex said, thinking out loud, "And I don't really want to know my future, that's all fake junk."

"I think I know one you should take," said Harry, smiling.

"Oh, of course I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures," said Alex, "I mean, I _am_ "The Weird Animal Girl". No, I'm debating between Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."

Finally, she decided on Arithmancy because, "I was never good at translating foreign languages," she told Hermione. Hermione didn't know what to take, so she decided to take them all.

"How are they going to fit all your classes into a day?" asked Alex when Hermione told her.

"Professor McGonagall will think of something…I hope," said Hermione.

Harry and Ron decided on Care of Magical Creatures and Divination because older students told them they were the easiest. Harry's practices starting picking up and it was well after dark when he would walk into the common room, tired and sore.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to take two extra classes next year," said Harry as he plopped down in an armchair by the fire, "I'm barely getting my homework done as it is."

…...

Alex was in the library looking for something to read. She went over to the Magical Creatures section and started taking random books of the shelves.

_I wonder if the Heir of Slytherin monster is in here somewhere,_ thought Alex mildly.

Suddenly, it hit her. The monster must be an animal, because Alex could hear it and no one else. But Harry could hear it too, what did that mean? The monster was a snake! Quickly, she grabbed a large book with an ugly-looking snake on the front and set it down on a table. She paused, her hand about to open the book. How would she know what kind it was? There were probably a million different kinds of deadly snakes in the Wizarding World. She picked up the book again and checked it out. She would talk to Hermione and see if the two of them could figure something out.

Hermione was sitting on her bed reading when Alex came running into the room. Hermione sat up and looked at Alex's flushed face to the large book in her hands.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Alex walked over and put the book on Hermione's bed, eyes aglow with excitement.

"The monster…it's a kind of snake…that's why only Harry and I can hear it talk, I can because it's an animal and Harry can because it's a snake," said Alex.

"But what kind? There are a lot of snakes out there," Hermione asked, picking up the book.

"I checked that out so we could look through it together, maybe we could solve this mystery," said Alex breathlessly.

They spent the rest of the afternoon flipping through pages and talking about the attacks. Alex had made a list of the snakes that might have performed the attacks.

"We have the Amazon Flight Cobra that petrifies its victims by spitting on it, the Basilisk that kills its victims by staring at it directly, but if not directly they are petrified, and lastly, the Zimbabwe Pillar Python that petrifies its prey by biting it and then swallows it whole," said Alex, reading off her list.

She stopped, however, when Parvati and Lavender came in and got ready for bed.

…...

Alex woke up the next morning at dawn. She got dressed and went to the common room, still thinking about what she discovered. Later, Hermione came down, her face showing she had a plan.

"We should go and talk to Hagrid," she said, "If he did release the monster before, maybe he'll be able to tell us about it."

Alex nodded and grabbed a jacket. The March air was still brisk from winter. She followed Hermione down to Hagrid's hut and knocked. No answer. Alex knocked harder on the door and shouted.

"Hagrid! Open up, it's me and Hermione!"

"I'm back 'ere!" called Hagrid from behind the hut.

Alex and Hermione went around, but a ghastly sight met their eyes. About six roasters were lying dead on the ground, covered in blood. Hermione gasped and covered her eyes at the sight, while Alex stood in numb shock. She looked at Hagrid, whose hands had feathers and dried blood on them.

"What happened?" croaked Alex.

"Someone killed me roasters, been happenin' all year!" said Hagrid angrily, "I told Professor Dumbledore the night yeh were in his office and it's still happenin'!"

Alex helped Hagrid clean up the dead carcasses while Hermione made tea inside. In the end, neither Alex nor Hermione could pluck up the courage to talk to Hagrid about an attack that occurred fifty years ago. After tea, the girls went back up to the castle and sat on Alex's bed, reading aloud the sections about their top three choices.

"_The Amazon Flight Cobra is found in the Amazon and other rainforest areas. It petrifies its prey by spitting it in the eye and then will chew on it with its full set of teeth,_" read Hermione, "_It can be killed by spitting on it anywhere on its body and hates the smell of dog_.

"_The Basilisk, also known as the King of Serpents, can be found anywhere in the world. Not only does it have deadly venomous fangs, its stare causes instant death. If not looked at directly, it causes the victim to be petrified. It can only be killed by the cry of a roaster._

_"The Zimbabwe Pillar Python is a very interesting creature, for it has eleven-_"

"Wait, that's it!" cried Alex.

"What?" said Hermione.

"The monster…it's a Basilisk! Remember the dead roasters we saw just a few minutes ago? Someone's been killing Hagrid's roasters so the Basilisk can't hear them, therefore can't die! Also," said Alex, practically shouting because of her nerves, "All the people being attacked, they never looked directly into the snake's eyes. Collin saw through his camera, Justin through Nick, and Mrs. Norris…" she thought for a moment, then remembered, "The water, there was water on the floor that night!"

"But how's it getting around? Wait…" Hermione stood up and starting pacing, "The first attack was by a bathroom, right? And you said it was like you could hear it in the walls…the pipes! It's using the pluming to get around the school! That's why no one saw it until it was too late."

"What are we going to do? We need to tell someone, before anyone else gets hurt," said Alex.

"Not now, we need to make sure we're totally right about this. Tomorrow we'll go to the library before the match and look up some more information."

Alex nodded in agreement and starting doing homework, taking longer than normal because she could barely concentrate. She had just finished her Potion's essay when Parvati came in.

"Harry's dormitory has been broken into!" she said.

"WHAT?" yelled Hermione and Alex together.

They ran down to the common room and up the boy's staircase. They opened a door that had the same plaque that was on their door and saw the mess. Papers were strewn everywhere, Harry's bed was stripped and the mattress thrown on the floor, his robes crumpled in a ball in the corner.

"Holy Merlin, it's a pigsty in here!" said Alex, stepping over textbooks, "Someone was looking for something."

"They found it too," said Harry gloomily, "Riddle's diary is gone."

_Author's Note: Hello my amazing fans! First off, I want to thank all the wonderful reviews I received for my last chapter. You all are the best and I appreciated every single one of the reviews. What would be even cooler is if those who reviewed last time, plus a few more of course, reviewed this chapter too! The review button is well trained and all flames will be used to fuel the catapult that I use to fling things at Voldemort…_

_Also, the next chapter is the last one for this story. Sad I know, but the third book will be full of laughs and many exciting things…hehe! :)_

_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to _madscientist128_. Aren't you proud of me? I updated just like I promised! ;)_

_Thanks again to all who reviewed, put me on alert, and put me in their favorites. And don't forget, reviews make the world of FanFiction go round! :D_


	13. Chapter 12 The Truth Revealed

_Author's Note: I am not, will not, nor have ever claimed to be the owner of Harry Potter. That right solely belongs to J.K Rowling. I only own the characters and plot points that you don't recognize._

Chapter 12 The Truth Revealed

Alex helped straighten up the boy's dormitory. It was dark by the time they were finished, so Alex went to bed. She slept fitfully, her dreams filled with a large snake chasing her. She woke with a start after one particular chase and saw the other girls dressed and ready to go.

"You all right Alex? You were moaning and twitching in you sleep a lot," said Lavender, putting her hair in a braid.

"Yeah, just a nightmare, that's all," said Alex, rolling out of bed.

"You better hurry and eat breakfast before the match starts," said Parvati.

Alex nodded and looked at Hermione. She had bags under her eyes too and Alex knew she hadn't sleep well either. Hermione waited for Alex to get ready and they went down to eat. Alex sat down next to Harry and Ron, rubbing her eyes.

"Blimey, you look terrible! Did you sleep at all last night?" asked Ron.

"Thanks Ron. Word of advice, never tell a girl she looks terrible, especially if it's because of lack of sleep," snapped Alex.

Alex and Hermione ate breakfast quickly and stood up.

"We'll meet you at the match," said Hermione, "Alex and I need to do something first."

They waved good-bye and ran to the library. After they looked through all the books in the library on snakes, their suspicions were confirmed: the monster was indeed a Basilisk. Hermione looked up from the last book in the pile, her face pale. Then, she tore out a page from the book and wrote the word "pipes" on it, just to remind her of how the snake was getting around.

"Do you think Dumbledore's in his office now?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Can't hurt to check, I know the password…I think," said Alex, her heart pounding. They walked out of the library, when a voice called out to them.

"Hey, what are you two doing here? Why aren't you at the match?" A girl wearing a Prefect's badge came walking over to them, a mirror in her hand.

"We…We need to see the Headmaster, right away," said Hermione bravely.

"Whatever you can tell the Headmaster, you can tell me," said the girl.

"We know what the monster is, it's a Basilisk," said Alex and she started explaining everything, about the dead roasters, the pipes, and about how everyone had not looked directly into the snake's eyes. The girl seemed convinced and nodded.

"I'll take you there now. Even if he's not there, at least we'll be safe. The rest of the school is outside so they'll be safe too if your theory is correct." She pulled out her mirror and started walking.

Suddenly, Alex heard something that made her stomach drop. _Time to kill…so long since I have killed…let me rip you._ It was the Basilisk. It was hungry and, judging by the volume of the voice, very close. Alex was about to say something, when she watched the Prefect use her mirror to look around the corner. As Alex's eyes met a large yellow one, she felt her entire body freeze up and she fell to the ground, petrified.

…...

Alex felt a tingling sensation throughout her body. She groaned and felt sore everywhere. She could hear voices all around her, but couldn't understand what they were saying. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was in the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey was giving spoonfuls of brown liquid to a figure next to Alex's bed, Professor Sprout holding the cauldron. Alex realized the figure next to her was Hermione.

"What's going on?" croaked Alex weakly.

"Oh good, you up!" said Madame Pomfrey, smiling at Alex, "You're the first one awake, the others are sleeping. How do you feel?"

"Like someone ran me over with a truck," muttered Alex under her breath, but answered, "All right, just sore and tired."

Suddenly, everything came flooding back, the monster, the Prefect, the eye. She had been petrified! Alex ran her hands through her long black hair and lay down. How long had she been here? Was the monster still out there, waiting to strike again? She looked over and saw Hermione sit up slowly and turn to her.

"Alex! What's going on here? Where are we?" said Hermione in a panicky voice.

"We're in the Hospital Wing Hermione, remember? We saw the eye through that girl's mirror and became petrified," said Alex.

Hermione asked Madame Pomfrey a lot of questions about what had happened. From what the matron said, they had been out for almost three months and the monster had been found and killed.

"Potter was at it again, came in here with some nasty wounds, but he left about two weeks ago. Once the others are up and feel better, all of you are to go to the Great Hall. Everyone's waiting for you."

Alex was pacing around by the time everyone was awake. She and Hermione practically ran out the door and to the Entrance Hall. They opened the large doors and walked inside. Everyone stared as they came in and Harry and Ron stood up. Alex smiled widely and ran over to them. She gave both Ron and Harry hugs and Hermione gave Harry one too, but shook hands with Ron. They had just sat down, when Ginny came over to them, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she sobbed into Hermione's robes.

"What, why?" asked Alex, looking at Harry and Ron.

"It was me who wrote the stuff on the walls and killed the roasters, but it wasn't my fault. Tom Riddle made me do it, the guy from the diary," said Ginny in a muffled voice, her face still in Hermione's robes.

"You see," said Ron quietly, "Ginny found the diary in her school things and started writing in it. Every time she put at piece of herself in the diary, Tom started getting stronger."

"How did you figure everything out?" asked Alex.

"Thanks to you two, really," said Harry, "After we took the paper from Hermione's hand, we figured out where the Chamber was. Lockhart was supposed to go down to the Chamber to rescue Ginny, but when we went to tell him what we knew, he was packing his bags. We, er…_forced_ him to come with us. Turns out all the things he did in his books were fake. He was taking the credit for what other witches and wizards had done."

"Later, down in the Chamber, he grabbed my wand and did a memory charm…which backfired," said Ron smiling, "He totally lost his memory, can't even remember his own name."

"So I went down into the Chamber and fought the Basilisk, with some help from the Sorting Hat and Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes," said Harry, "Riddle told me what he did to Ginny and I learned that Lord Voldemort's real name is Tom Riddle. He had opened the Chamber while he was at school and did it again this time, except through Ginny."

"After I woke up," said Ginny as she wiped her eyes, "Harry and Ron took me back here. I thought I was going to be expelled, but Dumbledore believed it wasn't actually me who wrote on the wall and stuff, it was You-Know-Who working through me. When I heard that you two were attacked, I tried to tell the others but Riddle found out what I was up to and sent me down to the Chamber. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course!" said Alex, "Ginny, it wasn't even your fault so stop apologizing."

"Anything else happen while we were gone?" asked Hermione.

"I freed a house elf named Dobby," said Harry.

Alex smiled as she remembered the little creature. She was glad he was away from the Malfoys.

"Hagrid got sent to Azkaban," said Ron, counting things off with his fingers, "Mr. Malfoy blackmailed the School Board into forcing Dumbledore to resign…oh and there's a huge spider in the Forbidden Forrest."

"I can see this is going to be a long story," said Alex with a frown.

Just then, the doors banged open and in came a large figure. Alex let out a scream of delight and ran over to the large man.

"Hagrid, you're back!" she cried, hugging him.

The others ran up and hugged Hagrid too while the whole room applauded loudly, that is except for the Slytherins. Finally, the group diminished and Alex let go, looking up at her tall friend.

"What happened? Why were you sent away?" she asked.

"Those people up at the Ministry thought I was the one killin' the students again. The same thing happened fifty years o' go," said Hagrid, turning to Harry and Ron, "Did yeh find Aragog all righ'?"

"Oh yeah, just fine Hagrid," said Ron sarcastically, "He tried to eat us!"

But Hagrid didn't hear the last part, he was looking up at the staff table. He let out a great sigh of relief that made Alex's hair fly in her face.

"Dumbledore's back, that's the way things're supposed ta be," he said smiling.

After giving the four of them a huge, back-breaking hug, he went up and sat at the staff table. Then Dumbledore stood up and the four ran to their seats.

"Another year almost finished. I see that you have all noticed the return of our students and our staff," he said, looking at Alex and the others. "It has been a very trying year so I do not want to stress you any further…all end-of-the-year examinations have been cancelled as a celebration!"

The whole room erupted in cheers. Alex stood up and punched the air. She looked at Hermione and smiled.

"Aren't you happy?" she shouted over the noise.

"Of course, but I wasted all that time studying!" she yelled back.

Alex laughed and hugged her friend, glad that things had returned to normal…at least for a while.

…...

Alex sat on the train reading a book while the others played Exploding Snap. It was Fred, George, and Ginny verses Ron, Harry, and Hermione. She watched with interest as Ron put the card on top. _CRACK!_ The whole deck exploded leaving Ron's face covered in soot. Alex laughed along with Fred and George, and continued even harder when Ron tackled the twins in his anger. She looked out the window at the green trees whizzing by. She got up, stretched, and announced she was going to walk around the train for a while. Fred and George looked up at her and grinned mischievously, knowing it was time for payback.

"We'll come with you!" they said together, leaping to their feet and dragging Alex behind them before the others could say anything.

The three of them walked down the hallway, whispering quietly. They received a few curious looks from some students while the older ones rolled their eyes and ran the other way. They knew better than to get between the Weasley twins and their victim. Finally, the three reached the Prefect compartment and Alex became invisible, poking her head to look through the window. Percy was sitting with his arm around a girl, the girl with the mirror that Alex had met before becoming petrified. Grinning, Alex turned back to the twins and became visible.

"Scratch our original plan, I've got a way better one," she whispered, eyes dancing with merriment, "One of you come with me while the other distracts him."

Fred looked at his brother, who nodded and drew his wand. Alex elongated the chain of her necklace and threw it around Fred's neck, becoming invisible while whispering her plan to the twin. Fred contained his laughter well and nodded in agreement. George winked at the space he thought they were before muttering a spell that sent fireworks zooming all along the hallway. In seconds, Percy had his head out the compartment door.

"What the bloody hell…get back here!"

"Come and catch me, Mr. Prefect!" shouted George over his shoulder as he took off, his older brother following him.

Alex chuckled and became visible, taking the chain off Fred as they entered the compartment. The girl looked up and smiled at them.

"You're that Gryffindor who was with your friend when we got attacked," she said, "I'm Penelope Clearwater, Ravenclaw. Glad to see your feeling normal too. And you must be Percy's brother, he's told me about you. Sorry, I don't know which one you are…"

"It's all right, we get that a lot," replied Fred, holding out his hand, "I'm Gred and my brother is Forge. I'm sure my brother's told you a lot of stuff about us, but has he ever told you the trouble _he_ used to get into?"

"No, never," said Penelope, sitting up straighter and looking eager, "I was under the impression that Percy was a pretty calm kid."

"Calm? Oh Penny, you don't know the half of it. Did he ever tell you the story about how our mother found him dancing on the kitchen table in his birthday suit when our dad brought company home?"

Alex managed to keep a straight face as Fred made up stories about his brother, doing his best to make them as embarrassing as possible. Penelope found them hilarious and adorable, but Alex knew Percy wouldn't think so. After Fred told Percy's girlfriend about how he "apparently" sings opera in the shower, the Prefect himself walked in looking slightly disheveled.

"Hi Percy!" said Penelope merrily, "I was just talking to Gred about your childhood. You never told me you liked to sing opera in the shower."

Percy looked confused for a moment before blushing violently while shaking with anger. He glared at his brother before seeing Alex and his eyes widened. She waved at him mischievously and rose to her feet with Fred.

"I told you I had resources and that I would use them to my full advantage," she whispered to him as she walked by and said over her shoulder, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Penelope. Have a good summer!"

They slipped out while Percy was still frozen in shock and bolted down the corridor, laughing hysterically. Once they stopped for breath, Fred said he was going back to the compartment while Alex wanted to walk around a little more. On her walk, she stopped in to say hello to Parvati, Lavender, and Neville. The girls were looking at a book with extremely bored expressions while Neville was explaining something to them animatedly.

"And you see those branches there, they- oh, hi Alex! Want to see the Bolivian Frog Tree?" he asked excitedly.

"Why not?" she said smiling. Finally Neville had found something he was good at. She didn't want to tell him she found Herbology boring.

She spent a few minutes letting Neville explain how the tree captured its favorite food, frogs, and said good-bye while wishing them all a great summer. She walked down the train and stopped to let someone out of the compartment. She looked up and saw it was Malfoy.

"Ratcliff," he said with a cold nod.

"Nice to see you too, Malfoy," said Alex, rolling her eyes, "Glad to see you haven't changed much while I was gone."

"Glad to see that you haven't lost your sarcasm," Malfoy sneered, "Imagine a world without your oh-so-witty comments!"

Alex glared at him and opened her mouth to shout some nasty comment. However, at the last second, she held her tongue and instead said coolly, "Hey Malfoy, how's your house elf?"

He looked up at her and frowned, confused by her tone. He seemed to be expecting a series of angry, and perhaps dirty, comments. Then he realized what she was talking about and became angry.

"Why don't you and your little friends mind your own business?" he snapped.

"It becomes my business when I see an innocent creature being harmed by those who think they're better that the world," she said angrily, "You're a heartless, sorry excuse for a wizard that goes around treating others like dirt just because of their status! I don't even know how we can be the same species!"

"House elves are the property of those who they serve," said Malfoy coldly, "We own them so we can deal with them however we please."

"Then have a heart and treat them with some dignity," she said and turned on her heel and stormed away, calling over her shoulder sarcastically, "And have a _great_ summer!"

By the time Alex came back to the compartment, the train was slowing down and pulling into the same station. She quickly changed into her Muggle clothes and got off the train. She followed her friends through the barrier and arrived in Kings Cross. There she managed to find her Uncle Monty. When he saw her, he ran to her and drew her in his arms. She felt the back of her shirt getting damp. When he let go, Alex looked away, giving him time to wipe away his tears.

"Alex, you're okay," he choked.

"I'm fine Uncle Monty," she said looking at him, "Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey took good care of me."

After reassuring her uncle she was perfectly fine, she said one last good-bye to all her friends. She followed her uncle out to the car and saw her friend Erin in the backseat.

"Alex, I've missed you terribly!" she said when Alex climbed in the back, "How was your school year?"

"Oh, you know," she said smiling as her uncle looked at her through the mirror, "The usual."

Her uncle and she started laughing, leaving a very confused Erin looking between the two of them in confusion the entire way home.

_Author's Note:_

_Dear Readers,_

_We've reached the end of another story. I must admit that this is my least favorite in my series but I have definitely enjoyed sharing it with you and receiving your comments. The rest of the series, I personally believe, is much more in-depth and starts to veer away from the original canon, making it more AU. Don't worry though, I do stick to the storyline for the most part. However, this is when I start fiddling around with J.K Rowling's characters and make them more my own. :P_

_Like always, I want to take this time to thank my reviewers. Therefore, thank you to _Amy aka Luke, madscientist128, Aileen Autarkeia, Lone Fairytale, Dustfire1954, EmberRee, SarcasticFucker, Artemis1922, StrawberriesAndCinnamon, Toshiba Sanders,_ and_ Ariauna_. I was so happy to receive all of your reviews so thank you so much for that. And let's not forget those who put me on alert and in their favorites. You all are amazing as well so thank you! _

_Finally, I want to thank my amazing sister, _missdavinci77_. Without her, none of this would be possible. She was the one who convinced me to put my work on this website and was part of my inspiration for Alex. So thank you Em and I hope you've enjoyed this! :D_

_I plan on posting Book 3 this weekend and I'll be sure to put a note in this story for those of you who don't have me on author alert. Again, thank you all for your support and I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have! :)_

_With love,_

_silvermoony77 _


	14. It's Finally Here

It's Finally Here…

Dear Readers,

I know that I had promised to come out this weekend but I was really sick this weekend and only just started to feel better yesterday. It was the first time I missed days at my school! Anyway, to make up for it I have three updates for you all. The first two are my next book _Living for the Moment: Book 3_. It's the prologue and first chapter, since my prologues are always so short. The third is a one-shot I wrote over the summer called _Why Be Ordinary When You Can Be Extraordinary?_. It's not like my usual stuff, it's a little more personal. Please let me know what you all think!

A huge shout-out to those who reviewed between when I last posted and now, as well as to those who put me on alert or in their favorites. Like I always tell you, your support means the world to me. You all are the best fans in the world and deserve a pat on the back. I would give it to you myself but unfortunately I live somewhere that I'll never reveal and I don't know any of you all besides through the computer. Anyway, give yourselves a pat on the back for me while you enjoy my work!

With love,

silvermoony77


	15. UPDATE NOTICE: EDIT IN PROGRESS!

Dear Readers,

Wow, it's been so long that I'm not sure if you even remember me. :/ My absence is quite unpardonable and I truly am sorry for that. College really took me away from writing for a while. However, there is good news: I am working on re-writing this series! I have gotten so many people asking me when I'm going to update again and as I went back to look at this series, the writing made me cringe. Granted, this series was written back when I was in high school so it's okay that my writing was immature because _I_ was immature. However, it's been almost four years since I wrote this story and it's time for an upgrade. The story will remain relatively the same (character pairings, character personalities, major plot lines, etc.) but I am working on making the storyline more realistic. Alex was (as loathe as I am to admit it) a Mary Sue. I am trying to make her a well-rounded character with evident flaws. Also, the pacing in the first few stories was way too quick so I am beefing things up. That means more chapters for you guys! :) Thank you to everyone who sent me PMs asking when I would update the story. It was because of your badgering that I went back to look at the stories and decided to make this huge edit. The first chapter for the new first book will be up very soon so please go take a look! Enjoy!

Sincerely,

silvermoony77


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